January 4, 2014
WB Govt starts beneficiary schemes for marginal farmers
The West Bengal Government on Friday announced a pilot project to provide financial assistance to marginal farmers of the state so that they can have their own storehouses and vending carts.
Although there are 24 lakh small and marginal farmers in the state, only around 10,000 such farmers would be covered initially. A decision in this regard was taken at a cabinet meeting at the new secretariat, Nabanna, here on Friday.
The two schemes, named by Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee, are Amar Fosho, Amar Gola (My Crop, My Storehouse) and Amar Foshol, Amar Gari (My crop, my vehicle).
The state government has allocated around Rs 170 crore for the two projects for the remaining three months of the current financial year.
After the cabinet meeting, state Urban Development Minister Firhad (Bobby) Hakim told the press that under the Amar Foshol, Amar Gola project, the subsidy provided by the government will vary between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000 depending on the nature of the warehouse.
In the case of the Amar Foshol, Amar Gari project, the rate of subsidy would be Rs 10,000 flat. “This project will facilitate those farmers who wish to directly sell their products to end users,” Hakim said.
He said that the subsidy amount would be directly credited to the bank accounts of those farmers who own Kisan Credit Cards.
During Friday’s meeting, another crucial decision taken was to allow the Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) to increase the number of mayor-in-council from five to 10 and raise the number of boroughs from five to seven.
“This will relieve the burden on the mayor-in-councils as well as the borough chairmen, who would then able to function more effectively,” he said.
