The corona virus pandemic has induced a nationwide lockdown because of which several losses have been noted in the farming sector.
Relief packages for West Bengal farmers have been introduced for those who have suffered economic losses due to the Amphan cyclone as well as the corona virus lockdown. This package definitely has some more relief for elder farmers and fishermen of age above 60 years that too ahead of the big festival of Durga Puja.
After the removal of lockdown the majority of farmers and fishermen have to fallback to state govt. for their problems. Therefore, the state government have introduced 2 months of advance pension of around Rs. 2,000 for the months of November and December per farmer & fishermen. This was the biggest festive announcement made by the state government of West Bengal last week. This pension package is expected to help 87,911 elderly farmers and 20,000 elderly fishermen. The finance department has around 1 lakhs on list for farmer’s pension and a quota of 20,000 for fishermen.
Recently Central government has launched Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PPMSY) that will boost fisheries sector, double farmers income and generate more job opportunities for people.
In the year 2019, 7.4% of total suicide case of farmers was from West Bengal as stated by NCRB report. Therefore, Chief Minister Mamtabanerjee has targeted 2021 election with the aim of rooting votes from Bengal farmers and fishermen on the grounds of no. of suicide prevention and announcement of pension before October. In addition to the announcement made by the state government, came Amit mitra’s claims of huge debts of the state. “Huge debts are being trust on the states which will destroy the health of the states and federalism will be trust. Therefore brut power of centralism will come into play,” said Finance Minister Amit mitra lashing out at the Center on GST issues.
