February 14, 2015
Fair price for paddy – Bengal shows the way
The West Bengal Government has fixed the selling price for paddy at the fair price of Rs 1360/quintal for the paddy farmers.
The farmers will obtain this price for their crop in all the Kisan Mandis, areas surrounding rice mills, any areas decided by the respective related government officials or areas selected by the CMR agencies.
In this manner not only will the farmers get the proper price for their crop, devoid of any cut monies they had to pay to the middlemen, but also get their payments on time in a transparent manner.
The Government has decided to pay Rs 15/quintal extra above the fixed price to the farmers who may sell their produces at the Kisan Mandis. The payment to the farmers will be made by cheques.
The State government is setting up 341 mandis, one in each block, many of which are now operational. The mandis will have storage facilities. Also 50 warehouses for seeds are also under construction.
The State Government has also chalked out plans to introduce a “crop insurance scheme” for commercial crops. This scheme is aimed at helping the farmers recover their crop loss due floods and other natural disasters.
