Bhubaneswar: Slogan shouting opposition
Congress MLAs stormed into the well of the Orissa assembly
on Thursday demanding suspension of all business to discuss recent
farmers' deaths, disrupting the Question Hour.
As soon as the House assembled, Congress legislators
led by leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh demanded that the
question hour be suspended to discuss the issue of farmers'
deaths in different parts of the state, driven by mounting
debt and crop failure which was caused by lack of water and
pest attack.
When their plea went unheeded, several Congress MLAs
trooped into the well raising slogans against the BJD
government and some of them tried to climb the Speaker's
podium and table.
As the uproarious scenes went on, Speaker Pradip
Amat adjourned the house till 11.30 hrs.
When the house re-assembled, the leader of opposition
said though farmers continued to die one after another due to
crop failure and loan burden, the BJD government remained
unconcerned and unsympathetic towards peasants' plight.
Regretting that the Congress' demand for obituary
reference to condole the death of farmers got rejected,
Bhupinder Singh said a meeting of leaders of all parties be
convened after suspending business in the assembly to take a
decision on the matter.
Farmer Commission to be set up
In a bid to substantially
raise farm productivity and arrest crop loss, Orissa
government today announced formation of a Farmer Commission
for working out strategies for the purpose.
The four-member Commission headed by former state
chief secretary Sudhansu Mohan Patnaik would submit its report
within six months, Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout informed
the state Assembly.
The commission would chalk out strategies for
increasing agricultural productivity in the state
substantially. It would identify appropriate technologies and
scientific methods for giving a boost to the farm sector,
official sources said.
The other members of the committee are vice-chancellor
of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology D P Ray,
chairman of Western Orissa Development Council Niranjan Panda
and chairman of State Finance Commission Sudhakar Panda.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, November 20, 2009, 00:38