The new farm laws will devastate farmers, said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday and added that she would speak to State officials and take steps to protect their interests.
Resuming her visits to the districts after more than seven months, Ms. Banerjee, who is on a four-day visit to north Bengal, also chaired an administrative meeting at Uttar Kanya building in north Bengal.
“The farm laws will only help hoarders. The laws will not serve the interest of the farmers. We will soon convene a meeting of officials to see what can be done to protect the interest of the farmers,” she said.
After the passage of two agriculture Bills in Parliament, the Trinamool Congress has held protests across the State.
Defending the Centre on the issue Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha MP Locket Chatterjee said that the Trinamool Congress is trying to mislead farmers on the farm bills. “Farmers are not going to face any distress. With the Bills the middlemen who fund the Trinamool Congress are going to face all the hardship,” Ms. Chatterjee said. Meanwhile, Congress MP from West Bengal Pradip Bhattachrya urged the CM to pass a legislation in the Assembly to negate the impact of Bills in the State.
During the more than hour-long meeting, the Chief Minister touched upon a number of welfare schemes and government services, from housing for the poor to disbursement of caste certificates.
Ms. Banerjee directed officials to step up development work in the five districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar. The Chief Minister also asked the district officials and the public representatives to not lower their guard on the management of COVID-19 pandemic, even though districts of north Bengal have relatively less number of cases than areas in south Bengal.
