Kolkata: At a time when the BJP-led government at the Centre is alleged to have fallen short of its promise to double farmers’ income by the end of 2022, the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal has increased expenditure on agriculture and allied sectors by over nine times since coming to power in 2011.
Under the ‘Bangla Shasya Bima’ (BSB) scheme, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government has so far disbursed around Rs 3,938 crore since the scheme’s launch in 2019, providing crop insurance cover to 1.13 crore farmers. The scheme offers financial assistance to farmers whose crops are damaged due to adverse weather conditions, with compensation amounts credited directly to their bank accounts.
The Mamata Banerjee government’s farmer-friendly schemes and support initiatives have significantly curbed migration from Bengal and led to a sharp decline in reports of farmer suicides.
According to sources, last year, more than Rs 637.39 crore was disbursed under BSB. After the scheme was launched, the state government repeatedly urged the farmers and enrolled their names under the BSB scheme.
The ruling party claimed that Bengal is the country’s leading producer of rice, contributing 12.87 per cent of national output and the second largest producer of vegetables with 29.19 million tonnes in 2023. The state also emerged as the second in tea production with 373.48
million kgs in 2024, the TMC stated. It further pointed out that Bengal ranks first in India in cold storage capacity at 5.95 million MT, which is 413 per cent above the national average. Every year, nearly 55 lakh metric tonnes of paddy are produced directly from 16 lakh small and marginal farmers. Attacking the BJP for its failure in delivering promises, Trinamool Congress said that the Centre failed in reducing agricultural imports and encouraging exports.
The BJP government at the Centre also failed to deliver its promise of a warehouse grid along national highways to provide logistic linkages for agriculture produce.
The state had also launched the “Krishak Bandhu” scheme for the benefit of the farmers. Farm mechanisation through technologically-advanced agriculture machines, procurement of farmers’ produce through Sufal Bangla, have proved to be a game changer as well.