BJP MLA tries to drink sanitiser in Odisha Assembly over paddy procurement row

Oisha's Food Supplies Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain was reading out a statement about the status of paddy procurement in the state in the 2020-21 kharif marketing season when the BJP MLA tried to gulp down a bottle of hand sanitiser.

Published on: Mar 13, 2021, 08:15:08 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty, Hindustan Times, Bhubaneswar

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A BJP legislator on Friday rocked the legislative assembly when he tried to drink hand sanitiser to protest the state government’s “failure” to procure paddy of thousands of farmers in his area in the western district of Bargarh.

Farmers in Odisha's Bargarh district blocking National Highway 58 in protest against alleged irregularities in paddy procurement. (HT PHOTO)

BJP MLA from Deogarh, Subash Chandra Panigrahi who earlier in the morning had threatened to immolate himself over the paddy procurement issues was about to gulp the contents of hand sanitiser bottle when parliamentary affairs minister Bikram Arukha, senior BJD legislator Pramila Mallick and other legislators stopped him.

“We should raise the farmers’ issue in the Assembly. But, such an act in the House is not acceptable,” said BJD MLA Ananta Das.

Panigrahi's shocking display came while state food supplies minister Ranendra Pratap Swain was reading out a statement about the status of paddy procurement in the state in the 2020-21 kharif marketing season. Swain said so far 60.44 lakh tonne of paddy have been procured by the government through several market yards, considerably higher than last year's collection of 53.31 lakh tonne.

"This is an all-time record. We would continue to procure paddy till March 31 and ensure that no genuine farmer is left out," the minister said.

This season's record procurement came on the back of close to 15 lakh farmers registering as against 12.35 lakh last season.

In the morning, the BJP and Congress members had stalled the Assembly proceedings alleging that the procurement procedure was faulty. Congress leader Narasingha Mishra alleged that paddy procurement in the state was in a state of disarray.

"The state government had earlier assured the Assembly that paddy would be procured from the genuine farmers and criminal action would be taken against the middlemen. Lots of paddy have still not been cleared from the mandis and the minister’s statement on the floor in the previous session was a farce. Why should the Assembly function if the decision taken here is not honoured,” asked Mishra.

Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik (BJP) said even after the assurance of the minister, paddy is not being procured from the farmers. He alleged that the state government has funds to organise cricket matches at the panchayat level, but it can’t procure paddy from the farmers.

Despite the record paddy procurement this kharif season, farmers across the state have resorted to protests paralysing traffic movements expressing their anger over the paddy procurement system. Over the last few years, paddy procurement has been playing a critical role in the state's rural economy. This year around ₹10,800 crore have been transferred to the accounts of the farmers who sold their paddy at the mandis.

With immediate payment assured for their harvest, farmers and farmer organisations in Odisha want the government to buy all their harvest. On Friday, farmer leader Mahendra Patel of Sundargarh district led a protest of farmers in Talasara area demanding that the government renew the lapsed tokens that would enable the farmers sell their paddy. Similarly, farmers under the banner of Navanirman Krushak Samiti stopped traffic on state highway 65 at Badamba-Narasinghpur area of Cuttack district demanding that the paddy be purchased.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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