Over 18L farmers get compensation worth Rs 416 cr for damaged crops
Kolkata: Banglar Shasya Bima, the brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has benefitted more than 18 lakh farmers as they have so far received Rs 416 crores as compensation for damages caused to crops during cyclone Yaas and flood in the month of August.
This year north Bengal districts have witnessed several natural calamities starting with cyclone Yaas in the month of May followed by floods in August and again in September.
Though it had become possible to harvest paddy on a major part of the agricultural land during the boro cultivation before cyclone Yaas had hit the state, the cyclone had caused damages to pulses, maize, sunflower, sesame, peanut and sugarcane.
With around 57 lakh farmers in the state already being brought under the coverage of Bangla Shasya Bima for which the state government pays the entire premium, the cultivators have received the compensation for the damages caused to the crops due to cyclone Yaas and its concurrent effects in eight districts including South and North 24-Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Hooghly, Howrah, East Burdwan and Malda.
Till date around 18 lakh farmers have received the compensation and it is worth Rs 375 crore.
Again, a section of farmers from Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura, West Midnapore's Ghatal, North and South 24-Parganas received compensation worth nearly Rs 41 crore separately for "preventive sowing" of paddy due to flood in these areas in the month of August followed by incessant rainfall.
Farmers get the compensation for "preventive sowing" when the crop gets damaged soon after sowing.
A senior officer of the state secretariat said that the assessment to give compensation to farmers for other losses incurred due to the flood in August and that of again in September is going on.
The Chief Minister had introduced the scheme to help farmers get their yield insured. In a bid to help the marginal farmers also to reap its benefit, her government also pays the premium on behalf of every beneficiary of the scheme.
Farmers in Bengal get compensation for robi crops if paddy and maize cultivation is damaged while they get the same for 12 crops of kharif cultivation.
At present the state Agriculture department has brought around 21 lakh hectares of paddy cultivation under Bangla Shasya Bima.
It needs mention that around 2.22 lakh hectares of agricultural land had got affected due to cyclone Yaas as per the preliminary report that the state Agriculture department had prepared.
The report had initially revealed that the sesame crop on 1.20 lakh hectare was badly affected.
Similarly, peanut cultivation on 37964 hectare, pulses on 4329 hectare, maize on 5021 hectare, sunflower on 145 hectare and sugarcane on 577 hectare were affected in south Bengal districts, sources said.
