Bhubaneswar: CM Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday slammed the opposition for “politicising” the fire incident in SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack and tore into the previous Naveen Patnaik-led BJD govt, accusing it of failing farmers despite its 24-year “good governance” claim.Speaking during the water resources department’s budget debate, he said, “The opposition may take out processions over dead bodies and mock the victims, but we will work for the people and wipe their tears—just as we did by implementing the Krushak Samruddhi Yojana to wipe the tears of the farming community.”He was referring to a demonstration by the opposition parties outside the assembly, by taking out a mock procession of ‘dead bodies’ on Wednesday pressing for health minister Mukesh Mahaling’s resignation.Speaking about farmers, Majhi said a major source of their distress was lack of irrigation. “The former chief minister and current leader of opposition knows that if even a little water reached farmers’ fields, half of agriculture’s problems would be solved. But even this much work couldn’t be done properly,” he said.Alleging mismanagement when BJD governed the state, the CM said the irrigation department and Rajiv Bhawan, which houses Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, had turned into “hangout spots of non-Odia contractors,” where “irrigation work happened only on paper.” He cited the Puri, Taladanda and Rengali canals, claiming that tail-end farmers “received wind instead of water.”Majhi said the BJP govt, in the past two years, had “resolved to end contractor-raj” and create a clean and transparent system to ensure irrigation facilities. He said the previous govt had announced in 2006 that 35% of the state’s farmland would be irrigated, later extending the target to every village in 2008. “Even today, 25 blocks have not got a drop of irrigation water,” he said, adding that the BJD had also failed to provide clean drinking water to all villages during its tenure. He said the state govt had formed Mission Power to provide piped drinking water to all villages by 2027 and was also working to turn the earlier 35% irrigation target into reality. “Let the opposition mock victims—we will work for the people. We wiped the tears of the farming community through the Krushak Samriddhi Yojana,” he said.Majhi said the govt had proposed reform-oriented schemes in the 2026-27 budget to meet water needs, improve living standards, and boost water conservation.Around Rs 14,500 crore has been allocated for the irrigation department’s programme expenditure, a 14.23% rise over the previous year.The CM also announced a proposal to grant “Heritage Status” to select river dams to promote conservation, research, tourism and preservation of water heritage. An expenditure of Rs 100 crore has been proposed for 2026-27.
