Farmers are committing suicide because of crop loss and it has turned into a major talking point in the state. But you seem to have a different opinion on the issue.

The issue of farmers’ suicide is being blown out of proportion. The media has added colour to it. In 1866, when the state suffered the Great Famine, the farmers exhibited a rare kind of resilience; they did not commit suicide. In the 1950s, when the Dalai ghai embankment collapsed, lakhs of acres were submerged. Even then, not a single farmer committed suicide. When the state was devastated by the super cyclone in 1999, more than 15,000 people had perished and the entire agricultural belt was destroyed. Still, not a single farmer committed suicide. Our farmers have self-respect. It’s unfortunate to see that farmers are now committing suicide in the state. The reasons are many, some even vague. We cannot draw a conclusion that farmers are committing suicide only because of crop loss.          

But what about the suicide of Hadu Bagarti, whose death triggered a debate and put you in an embarrassing situation? 

The Assembly has constituted a House Committee under the chairmanship of former minister Pramila Mallick to probe into the case. She will visit the area on May 8. It would not be proper for me to pass comments as the committee is probing the matter. 

Farmers had come from far-flung places to attend the state-level farmers’ meet last week in the hope that the government would announce a farm loan waiver, but nothing happened. The chief minister also remained silent on the issue. 

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik is trying his best to find ways of writing off crop loans. Regular review meetings are taking place. However, our revenue collection has not been encouraging so far. Besides, the state government is going to implement the seventh Pay Commission recommendations. We have to look into the revenue aspect. After Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced waiver of crop loans, there are concerns that his state will find it hard to carry out development works. We have to consider all these aspects. Above all, the chief minister is not against farmers. He has a soft corner for them. 

But tell us whether crop loans will be waived or not? 

I will continue to place the demand before the government.

You earned the wrath of the Opposition because of your off-the-cuff remarks on the farmers’ issues. People have accused you of always making comments in the lighter vein like a jatra (opera) actor. Your car was attacked while you were touring the state recently. 

During my visit to Balangir, Bhawanipatna and other areas, I was manhandled and beaten up. People had hurled eggs at my car. I had tolerated this keeping the interest of farmers in mind. I consider myself a farmer first, then an MLA and a minister later. We had constituted a House Committee to raise the demand before the Centre to revise the minimum support price on paddy procurement. The BJP members had said that they would take up the issue with the Prime Minister. But, at the last moment, they did not even turn up to attend the House Committee meeting. On my speech delivery style, I can say that I have a jatra group and I love to make comments in this way. But no one understands that this is my way of speaking. 

The BJP is spreading its base rapidly in every part of the state and is trying find a foothold even in your area… 

They will not succeed in their mission in my area. I meet people of my area more than 300 days a year. I have been with them since my entry into politics. Even after the death of Indira Gandhi, when there was a strong sympathy wave for the Congress, 16 Janata Dal MLAs won and I was among them.

Do you mean that BJP’s growth will have no impact? 

We have to admit that the BJP has grown in the state, but we are not scared. We have to introspect and reorganise ourselves. The chief minister has taken a number of welfare measures for the common man, and we will ensure that it reaches them.

Is everything fine within your party at the moment? 

It’s perfectly all right. Perhaps you are alluding to the tweets of our MP Baijayant Panda, Tathagata Satpathy and write-ups of Bhartruhari Mahatab. They have their personal and independent opinions.

Do you think that a situation like Assam will emerge in the state and a majority section from the BJD will join the BJP? 

Such a situation will not arise here. People from other parties, even a stalwart from the Congress, Sudhir Samal along with 2,000 supporters from Dhenkanal, joined the BJD last week.

You are the minister in charge of fisheries and animal resources development. You also have a huge fishing pond. But Odisha is facing acute shortage of fish. 

This is a completely wrong notion. We are self-sufficient in fish production and produce around 4.19 lakh metric tonne of fish a year. Sometimes, we bring fish from Andhra Pradesh. 

We export fish to other countries and earn foreign exchange to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore. We have set a target to export fish worth Rs 20,000 crore by 2020. In order to promote pisciculture, our chief minister has already unveiled a fishing policy. 

There have been reports that plastic eggs have flooded the market, giving sleepless nights to the government…

These are baseless reports. I don't know why such a rumour is being spread. There has been no fall in the sale of eggs. We are committed to providing quality eggs to the people and the Odisha Poultry Farmers' Cooperative Federation (Opolfed) is taking steps in this regard. The consumers should not be swayed by such rumours.

Beside eggs, the distress sale of milk is turning into a major problem. Farmers are pouring milk on the streets, even at Master Canteen Square, which is hardly 200m from your official residence… 

The Omfed dairy plant has a capacity to process a maximum of six lakh litres a day. But we are collecting more milk than the plant's capacity. To solve this problem, we are coming up with a bigger plant at Barang. Nabard has sanctioned a loan of Rs 286 crore for this purpose.