Around 3 lakh farmers have enrolled under the Krishak Bandhu scheme, says recent reports.
A minimum of 53 lakh farmers have been taken under the scheme since its introduction. According to a senior official of the State Department of Agriculture, three lakhs out of them were successfully enrolled in a record period when they appeared at Duare Sarkar camps that started on 1 December.
In January 2019, the framework was announced to ensure financial assistance of Rs 5,000 per acre and a grant of Rs 2 lakh to the family in the event of the death of a farmer aged 18-60 years.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently declared that farmers will only be enrolled against their self-attestation system. The 72 lakh farmers are now going to be enrolled under the scheme with the action taken by her administration. The plea for enrollment in the Krishak Bandhu against self-declaration scheme began two days ago in the Duare Sarkar camps.
The Centre has reported that 21 lakh farmers have enrolled for PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi in the Central Portal while the state provides assistance to all farmers under the Krishak Bandhu scheme. The state government told the Centre that it is appropriate to share the data of each of these farmers for verification.
It is reported that Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture of the Union, wrote to the Chief Minister recommending the appointment of a nodal officer with whom the central portal password will be exchanged for verification purposes. A senior state government official has suggested that the same is yet to be issued. Comparing the Centre's farmers' welfare system with that of the state, the leadership of the Trinamool Congress reported that no death benefit is offered to farmers under the Centre's scheme and that farmers are given only Rs 1,214 per acre.
