Farmers storm Jagatsinghpur Collectorate
BHUBANESWAR: The issue of collective resentment over the State government's recently-announced package with regards to large-scale crop loss boiled over on Thursday when hundreds of farmers locked up six gates of Jagatsinghpur district Collectorate for six hours.
Braving the early chilly weather, about 700 farmers started to assemble around Jagatsinghpur Collectorate from the morning. Just before the opening of the district offices, the farmers staged a sit-in in front of the gates.
Employees of the Collectorate could not breach the farmers' barricade and kept on waiting. On being informed, the additional district magistrate apparently came running to resolve the issue, but the agitated farmers did not pay any heed to him.
Stick to demand
They stuck to their demand that district Collector must sit across the table and explain as to why Jagatsinghpur did not figure in the list of districts where large-scale crop loss was recorded.
Six-hours of resistance at the gates of the district collectorate culminated in a public meeting where farmers demanded a compensation of Rs. 20,000 per acre for the crop loss caused by incessant rain during the first fortnight of December.
Akshay Kumar, State convenor of Nabanirman Krushak Sangathan, said crop loss in different blocks of the district where farmers were on cloud nine anticipating bumper crop was huge. “District administration has committed a criminal act by striking off farmers from the list of beneficiaries,” convenor of the farmers organisation said.
Farmers resolved to step up agitation the administration failed to amend its mistake and do a fair assessment of crop loss in the district. They demanded all farm loans should be waived with immediate effect.
This was not the first time when a farmer organisation took to the street over the issue. In western Orissa districts, several farmer organisations on Wednesday lashed out at the Naveen Patnaik for overlooking the plights of farmers.
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