The Centre should form a committee to monitor and supervise utilisation of its assistance for the farmers whose crops have been damaged due to untimely rains in Odisha, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president K P Singhdeo and working president Chandrasekhar Sahu told reporters here.
Such a committee would ensure flow of assistance to the needy farmers who suffered crop loss due to unseasonal rains, they said adding a PCC committee had made an assessment of such crop damage.
On other states like Andhra Pradesh getting special central package, they alleged that Odisha failed to receive substantial help as the BJD government was playing politics over farmers’ plight instead of holding an all party meeting on the issue for united and coordinated action.
Demanding a special package for the affected farmers, the Congress leaders said Rs 20,000 should be provided for per acre of irrigated land and Rs 12,000 per acre in case of non-irrigated land.
In case of non-paddy crops, the assistance should be from Rs 50,000 to Rs one lakh per acre, they said adding agricultural loans of affected farmers should be waived while ‘FAQ’ (fair average quality) norms for procurement should also be relaxed to help the peasants.
Besides submitting a memorandum to the central team scheduled to visit the state from Tuesday, a PCC delegation would also meet prime minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi to plead for adequate Central assistance for Odisha farmers, Singhdeo said.