Odisha Government gets Death Report of 48 Farmers

Bhubaneswar, Nov 4: The Naveen Patnaik-led Odisha government on Tuesday confirmed receiving the death report of 48 farmers, even as two more farmers committed suicide. The government said it would issue a white paper on the death of farmers.

Even as the state government has declared a drought package of Rs.1,000 crore, it has failed to deter the farmers from committing suicide in Odisha.

Panaka Purti of Hatisingeda village in Dhenkanal district committed suicide by hanging on Monday night. Kunja Hansa of Baijalpur in Kalahandi district also hanged himself allegedly due to crop loss and debt burden, said their family sources.

Ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb said the government has received the death report of 48 people so far while an inquiry is going on to ascertain the actual cause of deaths.

Stating that the government was concerned about the rising number of such deaths, he said the government would issue a white paper on the deaths.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in Balangir district on Tuesday showed black flags to Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy during his visit to the district to assess the drought situation.

Accusing the government of failing to tackle the drought and check rising incidents of farmers’ suicides, the activists shouted ‘Go back Minister.’ Police sources said they have arrested four BJP workers over the incident. (IANS)