State has started disbursing Rs 350 cr to 9L farmers: CM

Kolkata: The Bengal government has started disbursing Rs 350 crore to 9 lakh farmers in the state under ‘Bangla Shasya Bima’ (BSB) scheme. The financial assistance will be given to the farmers whose crops have been damaged due to adverse weather. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on social media on Wednesday announced that her government has started releasing funds.

Taking to her X handle, Banerjee said: “I am very happy to announce that under ‘Bangla Shasya Bima’ scheme, we are now releasing Rs 350 crore directly into the bank accounts of 9 lakh farmers. This assistance is being provided to all the farmers whose crops have been damaged due to adverse weather conditions during the ongoing Kharif season.”

Banerjee also stated that the farmers need not to pay any money as the state government bears the entire cost of insurance premium. “Our farmers do not have to pay any money for crop insurance, as our state government pays the entire insurance premium for all crops, including potatoes and sugarcane. We are proud that, since its inception in 2019, the state government has provided a total of Rs. 3,562 crore in assistance to 1.12 crore affected farmers under the ‘Bangla Crop Insurance’ scheme alone.

We have always been by the side of the farmers of Bengal, and will continue to do so in the future. Jai Bangla!” Banerjee in a post on X said.

Chief Minister Banerjee had instructed that not a single farmer who suffered damage should be left out of the benefits of BSB. According to Nabanna sources, last year Rs 637.39 crore was disbursed under BSB with the total beneficiaries being 15.79 lakh. State Agriculture minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay had earlier urged all the farmers to enroll themselves under Bangla Shasya Bima.

The move came in the backdrop of damage caused to paddy in a number of districts in South Bengal due to the effect of Cyclone ‘Dana’ last year. The minister had also instructed the district-level officials to form groups to visit all the mouzas where paddy cultivation was hit.