Bhubaneswar: The Centre has left out the Naveen Patnaik government's demand for assistance under the State Disaster Response Fund and the National Disaster Response Fund.
After thousands of acres of paddy had been lost in untimely rain and pest attacks, the state government sought an assistance of Rs 1,713.75 crore.
This comes a week after the Centre turned down Odisha's demand to enhance the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy. Livid at the refusal, agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy said: "Though we had submitted memoranda and reminded the Centre twice about our demand, they did not consider it. Union minister of state for agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, during his visit to the state, had promised help in this regard. But, his assurance remained a lip service."
Shekhawat visited the state on November 12 following reports about farmer suicides in west Odisha. He had come to assess the drought situation and pest menace, sparking a war of words between him and the Naveen Patnaik government.
The then agriculture minister, Damodar Rout, had questioned his visit. Later, the state government claimed that it had submitted a memorandum to the Centre, seeking an assistance of Rs 1,713.75 crore as assistance for crop loss.
However, in reply to BJD MP Ram Chandra Hansdah's question, Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju told Parliament: "Fourteen state governments - Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal - have submitted memoranda to this ministry."
Rijiju said: "Accordingly, the Centre has formed 14 inter-ministerial central teams for assessment of losses caused by the notified disaster in these states."
Special relief commissioner Bishunupada Sethi said: "We have money to assist our farmers. We have already released money from our own funds to meet the needs of farmers."
BJD spokesperson Samir Dash said: "The BJP government is adopting a step-motherly attitude towards Odisha. It's only releasing funds to BJP ruled states."
BJP state vice-president Samir Mohanty, however, said: "The state government had not presented its case to the Centre properly. The BJD should not indulge in blame game."
