Labour-intensive work, BKJD recipe for drought

BHUBANESWAR: The Biju Krushak Janata Dal (BKJD), farmers’ wing of the BJD, has demanded that labour-intensive work be given priority to mitigate the effect of severe drought in the State.  BKJD president Golak Bihari Nayak said the State Government should direct all collectors, BDOs and gram panchayat officers (GPOs) of drought-affected areas to start labour-intensive projects immediately. Funds for this purpose should be allotted immediately, he said. Nayak said the agricultural labourers, poor and marginal farmers will not migrate  for work if the  labour-intensive programme is implemented. He said the State Government should try to save the standing crops from drought and facilitate farmers go for alternative crops like groundnut, ‘arhar’, mustard and sunflower. The BKJD president demanded that the process for the rabi crop be started by the Government by providing agricultural inputs and incentives to the farmers of the affected areas. The Government should try to provide water to the crops by utilising every means, including canal water, lift irrigation points, tube-wells, diesel pumps and construction of check dams.