Congress workers in Bengal protest state govt's apathy towards farmers

Kolkata, Jan 4 (ANI): the state unit of Congress on Wednesday protested against the West Bengal government as it denied payment of fair price to paddy farmers in the state.

The West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC), held a protest meet in the Kolkata demonstrating against the state government's refusal to pay the paddy farmers the minimum support price of Rs. 1080, which was stipulated as per central government rules.

Commenting on the issue, the state Congress party President, Pradip Bhattacharya said that the refusal of the state government to pay the farmers their due added to the woes of the farmers.

"The farmers have been deprived. They have been deprived because they are not getting their support price of Rs. 1080 per quintal. They are in a state of distress. They have to sell it to the middleman for Rs. 500 or Rs. 600, which is very derogatory for the farmers and their financial condition is very bad. So we would like to come out from that situation. We thought we must go to the farmers and we are to stand behind them to help them, to assist them, so that they can get their price properly," he said.

The difference over various issues has strained the relations between the Congress party the Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) which is heading the state government of West Bengal under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Bhattacharya also added that the state government should evolve a mechanism to fund out the problems of the farmers and should take into account the views of all the political parties.

"The government has not got the proper machinery through which they can purchase the paddy, they can purchase the wheat, and they can protect the interests of the potato growers. The government should discuss and if necessary they should talk with the expert committee, so that they can do all these business to protect the farmers of Bengal," he said.

Since the past few days, several cracks have appeared in the Congress party- TMC ties.

Strains were visible during a Parliamentary debate on the anti-graft Ombudsman Bill, when TMC did a volte-face and opposed certain provisions in the government's draft of the anti-graft bill.

Despite several attemppts by the government, the TMC has so far refused to budge from its stand on the issue, leaving the Congress party fuming.

The TMC and Congress had voiced their differences on several platforms in the past on the issue of price rise too. (ANI)