Bhubaneswar, Oct. 26: Four more cases of alleged suicide by farmers today rocked Odisha as Opposition targeted the government and chief minister Naveen Patnaik assured the farming community of protecting their interests.

The latest cases have been reported from Bargarh, Dhenkanal, Bhadrak and Keonjhar districts with farmers in each case taking the extreme step following crop loss and their inability to repay the debts.

The victims were identified as Pabitra Bariha, 21, of Sirabahal village in Bargarh, Baidhar Pradhan, 45, of Shankulei in Dhenkanal, Baidhar Mahali, 48, of Sundarpur in Bhadrak and Saturghana Behera, 39, of Tikarpada village in Keonjhar.

The case of Pabitra was representative of the plight of them all. He had grown paddy over five acres and vegetables over three acres after taking a loan of Rs 80,000 from bank and borrowing Rs 90,000 from private moneylenders.

"He was hopeful of repaying the loan after harvesting his crop. But, scanty rainfall did him in. He was under severe mental pressure," said Madhab Bariha, the deceased's father. Similar was the story of other victims, who were driven to take their own lives after losing their crops, which left them with no chance of clearing debts.

As trend of farmer suicides continued, the BJP today targeted The Odisha government, saying that the drought package announced by Naveen had failed to address the problems of farmers.

"The drought package announced by Naveen is faulty as it does not take into account the ground realities in the affected areas. It is also full of discrepancies," said senior BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra.

Addressing a news conference here at the party office, Mohapatra said: "In the past one-and-a-half months, more than 36 farmers have committed suicide. The chief minister's package has failed to stop the trend." He also said the Odisha government had failed to devise any contingency plan when the possibility of drought became apparent.

Mentioning the loopholes in the drought package, Mohapatra said: "Ironically, the government has announced agriculture input subsidy of Rs 6,800 per hectare in rain-fed and non-irrigated areas and Rs 13,500 per hectare under assured irrigation areas. This shows that the government lacks basic knowledge and has a callous approach towards the farmers."

Coming down heavily on the government for failing to mitigate the farmers' woes, he said: "The government is yet to realise that the farmers, who committed suicide, were small and marginal ones, who had borrowed from private moneylenders and not from any government agency. The government can help these farmers only if it brings necessary amendment to the Odisha Land Reforms Act."

Mohapatra said: "The law department has also given its opinion on the amendment to the act to help those involved in share-cropping. But, the chief minister's office has been sitting on the file for the past six months. Those engaged in share-cropping will not get any benefit from the assistance package without amendment to the act."

On the issue of Odisha's demand for Rs 3,500 crore assistance from the Centre for drought and another Rs 5,000 crore for irrigation, Mohapatra said: "When Odisha has failed to utilise the central assistance and returned around Rs 9,000 crore, the demand for more money is surprising." The BJP also today released helplin numbers (0674-2531886, 2531887 and 9439928238) for distressed farmers.

The Congress has also decided to organise a "Save Farmer" movement on November 6.

On the other hand, Naveen, following his return from Delhi yesterday, had said his government was committed to protecting the farmers' interest. "They need not to worry about re-paying the loans. Their loans will be rescheduled," he had said.

Agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy said: "We are waiting the for the report of respective district administrations on alleged farmers' suicide cases."