Bumper potato crop a worry for Bengal, Mamata writes to Arun Jaitley for help

NEW DELHI: At a time when the plight of farmers for crop loss due to unseasonal rains seems to have become the biggest concern for the Centre, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to finance minister Arun Jaitley recently to rescue farmers of the state, who are faced with sliding potato prices due to a bumper crop this season.

Listing the steps already taken by the West Bengal government to ensure that the record 120,000 metric tonne yield in the country's second largest potato growing state after Uttar Pradesh fetches a fair price, the CM has urged the Centre to take some specific measures to ensure that the farmers don't lose out due to a fall in prices.

Banerjee, in her second letter to Jaitley, after the one she wrote on April 9, said the state government has taken steps like directly procuring potato from farmers for supplying to ICDS and mid-day meal beneficiaries, providing transport subsidy for inter-state movement of potato by the railways and subsidy for exporting potato from the Calcutta port.

"The state government has also requested to the Central government on April 9, for procurement of I lakh metric tonne potato from Bengal through central government agencies," the latest letter said.

In the letter, the CM asked the finance minister to waive loans taken by potato farmers and also allow fresh loans for the kharif crop. "It is estimated that about 4.13 lakh potato growers have taken loans from commercial banks, regional-rural banks and cooperative banks. Considering much lower realisation of prices of potato causing economic hardship to farmers it is requested that crop loans should be waived by the commercial, RRB and cooperative banks in West Bengal. The finance minister may advise the financial banks and Nabard to initiate immediate steps in consultation with the state government to waive the loans and at the same advance fresh loans to them so that farmers may be able to prepare themselves for kharif crop," the letter said.

Given the growing TMC-BJP political rivalry, Banerjee's letter to Jaitley could put BJP to test at a time when it is fighting TMC in the state that goes for assembly polls a year later.

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