Bengal govt committed to welfare of farmers, says CM on Kisan Diwas

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that her government is committed to the welfare of the farmers, on the occasion of 'Kisan Diwas'.

"Homage to Chaudhary Charan Singh, former prime minister, on his birth anniversary. This day is also observed as #KisanDiwas. My best wishes to all the farmers in the country on the occasion," Banerjee twitted.

She further stated: "The average annual income of farmers has tripled from Rs 91,000 (in 2010-11) to Rs 2.91 lakh (in 2018). Distribution of Kisan Credit Cards has increased 2.5 times from 27 lakh in 2011 to 69 lakh in 2019. Our Govt in #Bangla is committed to the welfare of farmers."

"Our Govt in #Bangla also runs the 'Krishak Bandhu' scheme to give special financial assistance to farmers. About 72 lakh farmer families will benefit from this scheme. We are also running the crop insurance scheme for farmers on our own, without any assistance from Centre," the Chief Minister added.

It may be mentioned here that the Mamata Banerjee government withdrew from the Centre's crop insurance scheme after the Centre tried to take credit of the scheme while only sharing 20 percent of its cost.

Banerjee subsequently decided that the state government would bear the entire cost of the scheme.