Bhawanipatna: The dawn-to-dusk bandh called by the Congress in Bhawanipatna Assembly constituency of Odisha’s Kalahandi district in protest against unfair practices during paddy procurement evoked mixed response on Saturday.
According to sources, Kesinga and Bhawanipatna towns observed the 12-hour bandh with business establishments remaining closed and vehicles going off the road. But the bandh’s impact was partial in other areas of the constituency.
Claiming that the Bhawanipatna bandh was successful, Bhawanipatna Sadar MLA of Congress Sagar Charan Das, blamed the BJP government in the state for the discrepancies in paddy procurement.
“For a 50-kg bag of paddy procured at the mandi, the farmers are paid for only 43 kg while the rest 7 kgs are hoarded by the mandi owners. Besides, the farmers are cheated in the cost for gunny bags and threads,” Das said while speaking to the media.
Stating that the farmers had suffered heavy crop-loss due to unseasonal rain in December, he demanded that they should be paid due compensation by the government to tide over the crisis.
The Congress MLA blamed the double-engine BJP government for not taking the farmers’ plight seriously and indirectly helping the mandi owners and businessmen.
Das threatened to intensify the agitation in future if the farmers’ issues are not addressed immediately. They urged the government to stop exploiting the farmers under the pretext of ‘katni-chhatni’ practice in the mandis.
