Bhubaneswar, March 9 Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy on Monday asked the state government to inform the House about the details of the death of a farmer in Kendrapara district, allegedly due to harassment during the ongoing paddy procurement season.
In a ruling, Padhy said that the concerned minister will state in the House before the end of the session about the death of the farmer, and the findings of the subsequent inquiry into the matter.
The Speaker’s ruling came after the issue was raised during Zero Hour by Opposition Chief Whip Pramila Mallik of the BJD, who said that a farmer identified as Trilochan Nayak of Junagadi village in Kendrapara district developed chest pain, after returning home from a rice mill in February.
However, while participating in another debate on food security, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister K C Patra said, “The district collector of Kendrapara has submitted an inquiry report. The farmer died of cardiac arrest on February 25 and he had received the money for selling paddy.”
Patra alleged that the opposition was making false allegations to defame the government.
“He (deceased farmer) had a past record of heart issues and died of cardiac failure,” the minister informed the House.
Mallik had earlier claimed that the man died due to harassment during paddy procurement.
The BJD leader asserted that, though he was issued a token to sell paddy, the farmer was told to take his produce to a private rice mill where he waited for three days.
BJD MLAs Dhruba Charan Sahoo and Ganeswar Behera also raised the issue and expressed grief over the farmer’s death. They alleged that farmers across the state were subjected to misery due to “gross mismanagement” at state-run mandis during paddy procurement.