At least 76L farmers to get aid worth over Rs 2500 cr under Krishak Bandhu scheme

Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government is all set to provide financial assistance worth over Rs 2,500 crore to 76 lakh farmers under Krishak Bandhu scheme ahead of the forthcoming Rabi season with 13.55 lakh beneficiaries getting added to the scheme.

This comes when the Centre has so far provided benefits to only 42.02 lakh farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) out of a total 49.56 lakh applicants. The applications of the remaining 7.54 lakh farmers from Bengal are yet to be validated.

The number of beneficiaries under the Krishak Bandhu (New) scheme is going up this time by at least 13.55 lakh with completion of necessary processing of the new applications received through the last Duare Sarkar programme held from August 16 to September 15.

Ahead of the last Kharif season (in June 2021) about 63 lakh farmers received the benefits under the Krishak Bandhu scheme and the total amount of benefit that was directly transferred to the bank accounts of the farmers was Rs 1,819 crore. The amount that needs to be disbursed would go up at least to Rs 2,500 crore as the number of beneficiaries are going up by around 13.55 lakh. The state Agriculture department is, however, continuing with the process of assessing the total amount needed to ensure that all 76 lakh farmers get the benefit. The second part of the annual benefit under the Krishak Bandhu (New) scheme usually gets disbursed in the month of December or January. "The date of disbursing the amount would be finalised soon," said a senior state government officer.

Within a month of forming the government for the third consecutive term, the Bengal government had launched the Krishak Bandhu (New) scheme on June 17 ensuring the farmers now receive an increased financial support from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 for one acre or more of cultivable land and those having less than one acre receive a minimum of Rs 4,000 per annum in two phases. Earlier a farmer used to get Rs 6,000 maximum annually under the scheme.

When contacted, the state Agriculture minister said: "It is always the endeavour of the Mamata Banerjee government to ensure that benefits reach farmers on time.

The direct transfer of benefits under the Krishak Bandhu scheme takes place at the beginning of every Kharif and Rabi season. Consequently it ensures adequate flow of cash in the hands of farmers and they do not need to lend money against a high rate of interest to undertake agricultural activities".