125 Years of Pothorughat- Assam Government Announces 3 Schemes for Farmers

In order to mark the 125th anniversary of the 'Battle of Pothorughat', the Assam government have announced three new schemes for the farmers. The State has about 27 lakh agricultural households spread over 26,000 villages. These farmers are covered by around 1800 rural and semi-urban branches of commercial and regional rural banks. 

Earlier, this year, State Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced that the State government will take the initiative to mark the 125th anniversary of the Battle of Pothorughat, fought between the British and the peasants, following the imposition of the high tax by the farmer. 

Three schemes for farmers- 

Assam Farmers Credit Subsidy Scheme- Those farmers who took the loan from banks between April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019, will get reimbursement of 25%, with a cap of RS 25000 limit. This will cover around 2 lakh farmers at an expenditure of Rs 500 crores. It will be made a regular scheme depending on the success of the scheme. 

Assam Farmers Interest Relief Scheme (Zero Percent Interest)- On farmers loan, Union government is paying an interest of 3% on behalf of the farmers and the remaining 4% is now being paid by the farmers. But from now, this 4% will be paid by the State and the farmers will not have to pay any interest. Hence, farmers loan will be now tax-free in the State. The ceiling amount of loan to avail this benefit is Rs 2 lakh. 

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Assam Farmers Incentives Scheme-

This scheme aims to bring back farmers to the banking system. It will cover around 3 lakh farmers. Under this scheme, the State government will pay a one-time cash incentive up to Rs 10000 for activating the inactive KCC accounts provided the farmers' deposits the outstanding loan amounts. 

Apart from this, the State government is already implementing the Chief Minister's Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana (CMSGUY) which aims to double the farm income. Under this, around 3400 tractors will be distributed in our villages for better farming practices. Further, in order to encourage the farmers to use scientific implements for better productivity, one-time financial assistance of Rs. 5000 per farmer is being provided by the government covering a total of about 5 lakh farmers in the State, Himanta Biswa Sarma informed the press. 

Battle of Pothorughat- A Brief 

In the entire freedom movement of India, the incident of Pothorughat was the first of its kind where so many people were killed in a single incident. What General Dyer did in Jalianwala Bagh was the repetition of Pothorughat. But, history was not kind enough to give its recognition to Pothorughat. The Indian Army later erected a war memorial in Pothorughat to honour the known and unknown martyrs. This is the only war memorial erected in the country by the army to honour civilians.

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