Odisha: Congress to hold farmer convention at Bargarh by March end

BHUBANESWAR: Protesting the farm laws enacted by the Centre, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee has taken a decision to hold a ‘Chasi Samabesh’ (farmer convention) at Bargarh by end of this month to show solidarity to the farmer movement.
Congress state president Niranjan Patnaik here on Saturday said he will attend the Chasi Samabesh and appeal the people to show solidarity to the farmer movement. He demanded the Centre to give legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) of agricultural products and stop being arrogant.
“Farmers are protesting against the Modi government, which is trying to weaken the MSP and mandi system for private interests to benefit.That's why the BJP is abusing and targeting farmers. India’s soul - ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisaan’ is in grave danger,” said Patnaik.
He termed the 100 days of farmer movement as 100 days of BJP arrogance. “More than 200 farmers have lost their lives during the movement, but the BJP government is not in a mood to discuss with the agitating farmers and solve this issue. It is an unfortunate incident for the country. On the other hand, farmers have intensified their movement against the government,” said the Odisha Congress chief.
Patnaik said farmers in Odisha are facing a lot of problems to get actual MSP of their agricultural products. “If the farmers face difficulties while the Mandi system is working in the state, just imagine what will happen to the procurement system after the Mandi system is weakened. That’s why I have been advocating for a legal guarantee on MSP, so that a trader cannot purchase the agriculture products below the MSP,” he added.
The Congress state chief said his party workers have been conducting farmer protests and meetings against the farm laws in different districts to sensitize farmers about the harmful effect of the farm laws. “If the Centre is not accepting farmers’ demands, we can say that the government is showing favour to corporate houses or private companies,” he added.