The Krishak Bandhu Scheme, a brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has provided financial benefits to over 66 lakh farmers across Bangla since its inception. State Finance Minister, Dr Amit Mitra shared this data at the inauguration of ‘Samabay Mela’ at Netaji Indoor Stadium on December 28.
The scheme has been so successful, he said, that many other States have expressed interest in replicating the scheme. Bangla is the only State to have such a comprehensive scheme for farmers.
The State Government has distributed Rs 1,031 crore among 66.2 lakh farmers since the scheme’s inception in 2018 – Rs 601 crore among 38.77 lakh farmers and share-croppers in financial year (FY) 2018-19 and Rs 430 crore among 27.43 lakh in FY 2019-20, with the latter number to increase over the last three months of the financial year.
Krishak Bandhu is a scheme meant to financially empower farmers by giving them a fixed amount per year based on their amount of landholding (a maximum of Rs 5,000 per annum – rabi and kharif season – for one acre or more, and a minimum Rs 2,000 per annum) and also to give a farmer’s family monetary aid (lump sum Rs 2 lakh) in the case of the farmer’s death within the ages of 18 to 60, both due to natural causes or unnatural causes.
Source: Millennium Post