KENDRAPADA: A 53-year-old farmer died at his home in Kendrapada district on Wednesday night after reportedly waiting four days for his paddy to be weighed and sold at a nearby rice mill. The deceased has been identified as Trilochan Nayak of Junagadi village under Rajnagar block. His younger brother Durodhan Nayak, 51, said Trilochan had gone to the primary cooperative society on February 22 to sell 51 quintals of paddy. “He was told to unload his crop at the Ramachandi rice mill in Gopalpur. He waited under the open sky for three days and nights for his turn. He felt uneasy on Wednesday afternoon, returned home and collapsed that night,” he said, adding that Trilochan had spent nearly ₹18,000 on tractor rent, loading and unloading charges.Durodhan alleged that the delay in procurement caused immense mental and physical stress to his brother.However, Gobinda Jena, secretary of the Dangamala Agricultural Cooperative Society, denied that the farmer was asked to take his stock to the rice mill. He said Trilochan was registered with the mandi and had received an SMS on January 14 asking him to bring his crop. “He came on February 22 and sold 38 quintals of paddy. We never instructed him to take his crop to the mill,” Jena said. After the incident came to light, the district administration directed the Rajnagar Tahasildar and the Civil Supplies Officer, Kendrapada, to submit a detailed report. “After receiving the report, appropriate action will be taken,” said Nabakrishna Jena, Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Kendrapada.Rajnagar Tahasildar Jisukrishna Das said an inquiry has been initiated to ascertain the exact circumstances leading to the farmer’s death. “We will submit our report soon,” he said.Farmer leaders said repeated delays in procurement and long travel distances to Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) are forcing farmers to sell their produce at lower-than-mandi rates. Umesh Chandra Singh, president of the district unit of Krusaka Sabha, said many farmers had invested heavily in inputs this year expecting to sell at the government-fixed ₹3,100 per quintal for FAQ paddy. “But with authorities delaying procurement and millers offering lower prices, farmers are suffering heavy losses,” he said. The farmer’s death triggered a political row in Odisha, with both the BJP and BJD trading charges over the state’s paddy procurement system. BJP’s district unit president Sasanka Sekhar Sethi said the attempt to link the death with procurement lapses was “politically motivated”. He said Nayak had already sold 38 quintals of paddy and procurement at ₹3,100 per quintal was continuing smoothly. “The BJP government is committed to buying every grain farmers bring. His death has no connection with procurement. The opposition is trying to politicise it,” Sethi said.The BJD, however, blamed the state government, alleging a collapse of the procurement system. Senior leaders Debi Prasad Mishra and Dr Lenin Mohanty demanded the resignation of Food Supplies Minister Krushna Chandra Patra, calling the situation “a systematic failure”. They alleged that Nayak faced repeated harassment despite receiving a procurement token on January 16, including deductions of 6 kg per quintal, and was made to wait at a mill for three days.BJD leaders also accused the minister of “misleading” the public by citing conflicting procurement figures and claimed only 33% of the state’s paddy output had been procured so far.
