Over Rs 247 Cr aid to farmers from 'Bihar Rajya Fasal Sahayta Yojana'

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Sunday said financial assistance of Rs 247.06 crore will be paid to 3.44 lakh farmers of the state to compensate them for their crop damage due to natural calamity.

This assistance from the "Bihar Rajya Fasal Sahayta Yojana" is an addition to the Rs 578.42 crore package, announced earlier to provide relief to the farmers whose crops were damaged due to untimely rain and hailstorm in March and February this year, he said.

The amount would be paid to farmers for incurring losses during the 2019 Kharif season, the deputy chief minister said.

Earlier in 2018, an amount of Rs 368.64 crore was paid to 4.53 lakh farmers for their crop damage under the scheme, he said.

Bihar is the first state where farmers are being given the benefits of the 'Fasal Sahayta' programme along with other schemes such as PM-Kisan Samman Yojana, crop damage and diesel subsidies, he said while making it clear that farmers do not need to pay anything to avail it.