The BJD government, which has an overwhelming majority in the Odisha Assembly, is facing scrutiny over its policies by its own MLAs, leading to some unconventional exchanges during the ongoing session.
During Question Hour on Wednesday, BJD’s Pradeep Maharathy asked, “How many multi-purpose cold storage units are present in Odisha and of them how many are defunct? Are these units being used by potato farmers in our state?”
To this, Finance and Excise Minister Niranjan Pujari, replying on behalf of the Agriculture Minister, said, “He (Maharathy) has done doctorate in agriculture and always claims to be the son of a farmer. I am also the son of a farmer. Potato Mission was started when he (Maharathy) was minister and it ended with his tenure. We are trying to revamp it…There are 128 cold storage units of which 80 became defunct in his tenure (as agriculture minister).”