Kolkata, Jul 29 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said disbursement of fresh financial assistance under a scheme aimed to benefit over one crore farmers in the state started from Tuesday.

Under the ‘Krishak Bandhu (Natun)' scheme, farmers and sharecroppers in the state are provided assistance of Rs 10,000 per acre in two installments annually. Those with less land also receive assistance on a proportional basis (minimum Rs 4,000).

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“I am delighted to announce that assistance under the Krishak Bandhu (New) scheme for the upcoming Kharif season has started from today,” Banerjee said in a post on X.

“This time, 1 crore 9 lakh farmers and sharecroppers in the state are receiving this assistance. A total of Rs 2,930 crore is being directly transferred to their bank accounts,” she said.

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Towards the end of the year, the same amount will be provided for the Rabi season as well, the CM said.

The scheme was renamed as ‘Krishak Bandhu (Natun)' in June 2021.

“Since its launch in 2019, we have disbursed a total of Rs 24,086 crore to our farmers through this scheme. I am proud of this! Not only that, if any farmer between the ages of 18 and 60 passes away, their family is provided with social security assistance of Rs 2 lakh. Under this component, nearly 1 lakh 46 thousand farmer families in Bengal have received a total of Rs 2,920 crore in assistance,” Banerjee said.

“I always believe that our farmers are our wealth, our pride. Our government will continue to work in this manner for their overall welfare in the days to come,” she added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)