On Wednesday, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee announced an assistance of ₹2,900 crore for 10.5 million farmers and sharecroppers under the state’s Krishak Bandhu welfare scheme and another ₹293 crore as compensation for crop loss because of the weather.
I am happy to announce that (apart from providing Rs. 2,900 cr. assistance to 1 crore 5 lakh farmers and bargadars across the state under the Krishak Bandhu Natun Scheme), we are also releasing today onwards a sum of Rs 293 crore directly to the bank accounts of our 2.10 lakh…
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) June 12, 2024
Banerjee revealed the decisions in consecutive social media posts following her second administrative meeting after the Lok Sabha elections. The premium for the crop insurance scheme, Bangla Shasya Bima, is carried by the Trinamool Congress government.
Referring to the insurance scheme, Banerjee said in a post on X, “Since its inception in 2019, ₹3,133 crore have reached the bank accounts of 10 million affected farmers.”
The move occurred within 48 hours of the Union finance ministry’s June 10 decision to disburse ₹1,39,750 crore to states in June, which includes an advance installment aimed at accelerating states’ capital expenditures. West Bengal’s portion amounts to ₹10,513 crore.
Simultaneously, Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a cash-transfer installment for farmers, coinciding with the release of states’ tax shares. According to Modi’s office, the funds disbursed under PM Kisan Nidhi will benefit 93 million farmers, totaling approximately ₹20,000 crore. This scheme is fully funded by the central government and is aimed at land-owning farming households, subject to certain exclusions such as income ceilings, tax payments, and total asset values. Banerjee said ₹2,900 crore that would be directly deposited into bank account of the state’s farmers under the Krishak Bandhu welfare scheme which was the “first dose of financial assistance” for the Kharif season and an equal amount would be deposited later for the Rabi season.
“We are committed to our farmers’ economic betterment and social security,” she said.
The CM said, “For cultivable land of one acre onwards, a farmer gets ₹10,000/-, and for lesser quantum of land, proportionate amount with minimum being ₹4,000/- per year… In addition, for a farmer dying between 18 and 60, his family gets death compensation of 2 lakh. Total 1,12,000 bereaved families in West Bengal have received total 2240 crore in last few years on this account.”
Author: Sangi Roy
Student of mass communication with a deep passion for print media and reading. My hobbies include traveling, exploring ancient history, and visiting museums.
