The government of West Bengal has announced the Krishak Bandhu scheme to address the farm distress in the state.

Features of the Scheme :

The important features of the scheme are:

• The West Bengal government will give annual financial assistance of Rs 5,000 per acre in two instalments, one during Kharif and another during Rabi season.
• Farmers can also take the financial assistance at one go.
• The scheme also provides for a life insurance cover of Rs 2,00,000 in case of death, irrespective of the cause, of an earning family member (farmer) aged between 18 and 60 years. Framers are not required to pay any premium to avail the insurance benefit.
• The scheme would cover 72 lakh farmer and share-cropper families in the State.

Financial burden on the exchequer :

The average land holding per cultivator in West Bengal is pegged at around 0.5 hectares (or 1.2 acres). Hence the average financial assistance to a farmer would come around to Rs 6000. To even cover 50 lakh farmers, the burden on the exchequer would be Rs 3000 Cr.