Stalemate continues in Odisha Assembly over paddy procurement issues

Stalemate continued in theOdisha Assembly for the third consecutive day of the budgetsession on Saturday as the opposition BJP and the Congresscreated a ruckus in the House over alleged irregularities inthe process of paddy procurement by the state government.

As soon as the House assembled for the Question Hour,the opposition members rushed to the well, demanding anannouncement from the government that all paddy bags would beprocured from farmers in the next seven days.

BJP MLAs shouted slogans against the state government,while a section of Congress legislators led by party whipTaraprasad Bahinipati attempted to climb the speaker's podium.

Speaker S N Patro requested the opposition members toreturn to their seats and participate in the proceedings.

Amid the agitation by the opposition legislators, thespeaker asked Food Supplies, Consumer Welfare and CooperationMinister R P Swain to make a statement on the procurement ofpaddy, as per the decision taken in the all-party meeting heldon Friday.

The minister informed the House that the governmentwill procure paddy till March 31, 2021.

He also said 55.03 lakh MT of paddy has so far beenprocured, up by 21 per cent from 45.61 lakh MT purchased lastyear.

The opposition members continued their agitationdespite the minister's announcement that the government willreceive paddy from farmers till March 31.

As Patro's request to members seeking theircooperation failed to yield any result, he adjourned the Housetwice, first during the pre-lunch session, and finally from11.30 am to 4 pm.

When the House reassembled, scenes of chaos werewitnessed again.

The House plunged into turmoil after Leader ofOpposition and BJP MLA P K Naik, considered as a politepolitician in the state, tore up a copy of the minister'sstatement and threw it to the speaker's podium.

The BJP members expressed their displeasure over theminister's statement and sought a discussion through a motionin the House.

Opposition whip and senior BJP leader Mohan Majhisaid, ''We had demanded suspension of all businesses in theHouse and a discussion on the farmers' issues. The stategovernment is not ready for it.'' Congress member Bahinipati said the speaker has notaccepted their notice for a discussion on the paddyprocurement issues.

He requested the speaker with folded hands to ensurethat paddy is procured paddy at various government-run'mandis' (regulated markets) across the state. He alsodemanded an adjournment motion to debate the issue.

Patro said, ''The minister concerned today made hisstatement on the matter. Let's wait for seven days, afterwhich he will be asked to present the facts.'' The speaker convened an all-party meeting to resolvethe stalemate, and it has been decided to hold a two-hourdiscussion on the paddy procurement issues in the House onFebruary 22, immediately after the Question Hour, sourcessaid.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader NarasinghaMishra wrote a letter to the speaker, saying that he had notagreed to a proposal during an all-party meeting to ask theminister concerned to make a statement in the House on thepaddy procurement issue.

''Yesterday, you announced in the House that during anall-party meeting held in your chamber, it was decided thatthe Food Supplies Minister will make a statement relating topaddy procurement. I protested immediately and said that I hadnot agreed to your proposal for directing the minister to makesuch a statement in the House,'' Mishra said in the letter.