By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, February 28, 2017 : Odisha Assembly on Tuesday witnessed uproarious scenario over alleged distress sale of vegetables by farmers across the state, forcing multiple adjournments of the House.

Congress members raised the issue during Zero Hour and demanded compensation for the farmers resorting to distress sale of vegetables. They attributed absence of cold storages and effective marketing link in tribal dominated districts like Keonjhar, Koraput, Rayagada and Bargarh as the reason for distress sale.

Chief Whip Taraprasad Bahinipati led the Congress legislator in creating ruckus in the house demanding reply from chief minister Naveen Patnaik, agriculture minister and cooperation minister who looks after cold storages.

They rushed to the well of the House and shouted slogans against the government. Some of them also tried to climb the Speaker’s podium.

Bahinipati said that the farmers of Keonjhar district on Monday dumped qunitals of fresh tomatoes on the road in front of the Collector’s office after being unable to sale the produces at proper price.

They even could not get 50 paise per kg of tomatoes in Keonjhar and therefore preferred to dump them on roads, Bahinipati said adding that farmers of Rayagada, Koraput and Bargarh districts had also faced similar situation earlier.

They also blamed demonetisation for ruining the financial backbone of farmers.

Speaker Niranjan Pujari was forced to adjourn the House twice till 3 PM.

When the House resumed at 3 PM, the similar situation continued and the Speaker adjourned the house for the day.