The state government in West Bengal runs a ‘Krishakbandhu Project’, whose main objective is to ensure predetermined financial assistance to the farmers from the government in two installments in a year. About 52 lakh farmers of the state have been getting financial assistance for this project of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. That number has recently increased by 11.5 lakh more.

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There have been many developments behind the scenes of the Chief Minister’s ‘Duare sarkar‘ programme, including the Krishakbandhu project. According to sources in Agro-department, the farmers will get financial support from the government from this Rabi season onwards. The money will be credited directly into their bank accounts. As a result, farmers are content. About 63.5 lakh farmers of the state have benefited from this project which includes the newly included farmers.

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According to sources in the Department of Agriculture and Administration, the Chief Minister launched the project keeping in consideration the needs and context of West Bengal’s farmers. This financial assistance is given to facilitate the purchase of agricultural products during Kharif and Rabi seasons. A farmer who owns an acre or more of land receives total assistance of Rs. 5,000 in two installments a year. He who has less than one acre of land gets a total of two thousand rupees in two installments.

However, the Chief Minister has also kept this project in consideration in the budget announcement. She has increased the minimum benefit from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 and the maximum from Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000. Farmers will get this extra money from the new financial year, i.e. from April onwards.

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Apart from this financial assistance, the Krishakbandhu project has another underlined important benefit for the farmers of West Bengal, which is the financial assistance on the death of the farmers. In case of death of a farmer in the age-range of 18-60 years, if he had been enrolled in the Krishakbandhu project, his family will get assistance up to Rs. 200,000 at a time. The biggest plus point is that the farmers, as well as the poor sharecroppers, are being included in this project. They will also receive compensation due to death. Meanwhile, in this regard, in many districts of the state, the families of many poor farmers and sharecroppers have also indeed received death compensation.

Also, farmers enrolled in the Krishakbandhu scheme can sell paddy directly at support prices. They do not have to go to the paddy procurement center in advance and register their names. According to sources in state-administration, 11 lakh 65 thousand farmers have applied for the Krishakbandhu project in the government camps in the districts till February 8. Most of the applications on the desks of the agriculture department have been approved. In fact, guidelines have been issued since February 12 to deposit money in the accounts of those farmers.

State Agriculture Minister Ashish Banerjee said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been by the side of Bengal farmers since day one. The government camps encompassing many policies under the umbrella of the ‘Duare Sarkar’ present a unique idea. It has simplified many things including the accessibility of details on the social services schemes. Hence, the farmers of Bengal have also been able to come here very easily and apply. With the new inclusion of 11.5 lakh farmers, more than 63 lakh farmers in the state have benefited from the project. This has been possible due to the efforts by the Chief Minister, said Ashish Banerjee.

Manoj Chakraborty, mentor of the West Bengal State Government Employees Federation, said that it was a great achievement of the Duare Sarkar programme of the Chief Minister, adding a note of thanks to the staff who work in these camps.