Min appeals to farmers to enroll under Bangla Shasya Bima

Kolkata: State Agriculture minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay on Wednesday urged all farmers to enroll themselves under Bangla Shasya Bima in the backdrop of Cyclone ‘Dana’ expected to make landfall on Thursday night with chances of heavy rainfall in nine districts of South Bengal from Thursday evening till Friday afternoon.

“There will not be much damage to the Aus variety of paddy as 97 per cent of it has been cut off already. The farmers have been advised to cut off the rest in the field by Thursday afternoon. However, the Aman variety has not matured yet. The rain may not cause heavy damage but if there is very strong wind and the Aman paddy tree gets uprooted, we will be helpless. Hence, to ensure that the farmers are duly compensated, we appeal to all to enroll themselves under the crop insurance scheme Bangla Shasya Bima (BSB) by October 31,” said Chattopadhyay. As many as 54 lakh applications of BSB have been already received by the state Agriculture department. Last year, Rs 637.39 crore were disbursed under BSB with the total beneficiaries being 15.79 lakh.

“Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has instructed us to ensure that BSB is extended to every single farmer who has suffered losses. The concerned insurance companies under BSB are holding camps across the state to facilitate farmers’ enrollment,” a senior official of the state Agriculture department said.