On the one hand, Farmers are holding Chakka Jam in the entire nation and on the other hand, the Bhartiya Janata Party has organised 'Krishak Bhoj' in West Bengal. In a bid to reach out to farmers of state, a mega outreach programme namely 'Krishak Soho Bhoj' will be organised by Bharatiya Janata Party's Kisan Morcha in 1,263 of its mandals on February 18. Among 48,751 villages, almost 40,000 villages have roped under the umbrella of Krishok Surakkha Abhiyan till date. This comes ahead of West Bengal Assembly polls slated for later this year.
Mahadev Sarkar, President of BJP's state Kisan Morch said, "Our aim is to avail the farmers of all benefits being planned by Centre. There are more than 70 lakh farmers in West Bengal. It is sad to know that the state government has not come up with any proper plan for the benefits of the farmers. The farmers of the state are being deprived of welfare programme developed by the Centre." "More importantly, there is not even crop insurance for the farmers. The Minimum Support Price has scaled up to 50 per cent in last six years," said Sarkar.
Krishok Surakkha Abhiyan commenced on January 9. Through this programme, Sarkar claims to have reached 25 lakh farmer families and around 7000 farmers with 'Soho bhoj'. Initially, this Abhiyan had aimed at having 'Soho bhoj' with as many as 3,354 gram panchayat. However, after the success they are now reaching out to the mandals. In Soho bhoj, every farmer's family gives 'ek mutho chal' (one fistful of uncooked rice) along with other ingredients and cooked together. Later, all the family members sit together for the meal.
This comes amid the continuing farmers' protest at Delhi border areas since November 26 demanding the repeal of three farm laws. The agriculture laws include 'Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce Bill, 2020', 'Farmers Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020' and 'Essential Commodities Bill 2020.'
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