Opposition seeks white paper on drought

BHUBANESWAR: With the situation worsening in the State and reports of farmers’ suicide trickling in from different parts, the Opposition Congress and BJP members on Friday demanded in the Assembly that drought should be declared in the entire State.  Raising the issue during the zero hour, Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh demanded that the Government should place a white paper on drought in the House during the session. Alleging that drought-affected people are not getting work under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) because of the Government’s inefficiency, Singh said it has also failed to repair the defunct lift irrigation (LI) points.Singh said the Government has not taken any steps to tackle the situation which is serious in 19 districts despite concern expressed by members cutting across party lines. The Government is yet to distribute compensation to the farmers affected due to last year’s unseasonal rains. Distress sale has become rampant in all parts. Has the Government taken any steps to stop suicide of farmers which is continuing for the last two years, he asked.BJP Legislature Party leader K V Singhdeo said the Government should declare drought in the entire State without waiting for the eye estimation report. He urged Speaker Pradip Amat to give a direction in this regard to Revenue Minister Surya Narayan Patro.Warning of a severe drinking water crisis this year, Singhdeo referred to the letter written by Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in which he has said that the Government has failed to utilise funds under the scheme.The BJP leader also referred to the letter written by the CBI SP to the Government alleging that the district collectors are not complying with the requests in the probe for irregularities in the MGNREGS. He demanded that strong action should be taken against the collectors for not cooperating with the CBI.Expressing concern over the fact that the State is experiencing drought during the last three consecutive years, Santosh Singh Saluja (Cong) demanded that drought should be declared as per the provisions in the relief code.  His party colleague Naba Kishore Das expressed concern over the drinking water crisis in many Western Orissa districts. It has come to light from Jairam Ramesh’s letter that funds are not being utilised properly he said, adding that the Government is trying to cover up irregularities in the implementation of MGNREGS as the collectors are not cooperating with the CBI probe.