West Bengal refuses power subsidy to drought-hit jute farmers

In a setback to the jute growers of the 11 drought hit districts of West Bengal, the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL) has turned down a proposal to offer subsidy on power tariff to these farmers.

It may be noted that West Bengal is facing one of its worst droughts in recent years with an overall monsoon deficit of 33 per cent and the Centre has initially sanctioned Rs 1023 crore for the state to combat drought.

The jute crop has been adversely affected because of the drought. Being an intercrop and cultivated between July and September, the drought has thrown its production almost out of gear.According to industry estimates, raw jute production is likely to fall by 15-20 per cent this year due to deficient monsoon. A team of the Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) and the Jute Corporation of India (JCI) which recently visited Nadia and Murshidabad, the two highest jute producing districts of the state, and found a disappointing scenario in sowing operations.Sowing in these two districts is almost down by 2.8 million bales. Jute is cultivated on around 0.8 million hectares of land in 15 districts of the state.

Meanwhile, the jute mill owners are now planning to approach the West Bengal government to provide diesel subsidy to the farmers along with power subsidy. Almost 90 per cent of the state’s jute fields are watered from diesel pumps.