Farmers of Bengal should get benefits of PM-KISAN scheme: Guv Dhankhar

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said farmers of the state are being deprived of the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme while others across the country are enjoying its advantages. The Mamata Banerjee government has not implemented the PM-KISAN scheme and it has its own schemes for farmers.

He requested the state government to send details of farmers of West Bengal to the central government so that they can start getting their share to their bank accounts, as per norms of the scheme. Under the PM-KISAN scheme, annual income support of Rs 6,000 is provided to all farmer families across the country in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each every four months.

"The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi is a revolutionary scheme. Farmers all over the country are getting Rs 6,000 annually and till date Rs 43,000 crores have been released benefiting 8,000 farmer families. On January 2, Rs 12,000 crores money was directly transferred to 6,000 farmer families," the Governor told reporters on Thursday.

Addressing a programme in Birbhum district, Dhankhar said he was pained to see that farmers of the state are not getting the benefits of the central scheme. "I am deeply pained to see that farmers of West Bengal are not getting their share of a scheme, which is fully funded by the central government," he said.

The farmers not getting this money also has an effect on the economic condition of the country, he said. "I do not see any reason (why the farmers in Bengal are not getting their share)," Dhankhar said. When contacted, state Agriculture Minister Ashis Banerjee, hailed the schemes run by the TMC government.

"The policies of Mamata Banerjee are much better than the central schemes. All our schemes ensure overall development and security of the farmers," he said. West Bengal government has schemes for farmers and farm labourers in the state. Every farmer gets Rs 5,000 per acre every year in two instalments from the agriculture department in one scheme, while the family members of a farmer would get Rs 2 lakh if he dies due to any reason including suicide.

The state also has a crop insurance scheme for farmers where the government pays the full premium. The state government also has waived tax on agricultural land.