Thaindian News

Kolkata, Sep 12 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sunday demanded the central government declare the drought in West Bengal a national calamity and provide subsidies for writing off crop loans taken in the kharif season.
With 11 of the 18 districts in the state already declared drought-affected, the water level has been receding in most of the south Bengal districts, making the peasants doubtful about how much proportion of the harvest can be reaped, the CPI-M’s Bengali mouthpiece Ganashakti said in an editorial.

“In the coming months, the rabi crop is also likely to be damaged. This year, Rs. 2,022 crore has been disbursed as agricultural loans for the Kharif season… In the present situation, there is a need for writing off the old loans and injecting soft loans afresh,” the editorial said.

Saying that the losses amount to Rs.5,000 crores, the daily said the left peasant bodies have demanded that the “drought in the state be regarded as a national calamity”.

“There has also been a demand that the central government provide subsidy for writing off all crop loans disbursed in the 2010 kharif season. Towards that direction there is a need to write-off all interests immediately,” it said.

Urging the central government extend “total” cooperation to the state government, the CPI-M regretted that New Delhi was yet to take any effective steps except dispatching a central team.

The party complained that the state has not even got its dues, let along any extra assistance, from the central government.

“To save the rural belts from the natural disaster, the central government should come out with a special financial package, it said.

The paper also noted that despite repeated pleas from the state government for its dues of Rs. 1,400 crore under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the central government ha so far released only Rs.270 crore.