One-time grant of up to Rs 30K to farmers in Bengal

The decision to grant farmers the money was taken at a Cabinet meeting today, Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee said.

The state government has already extended a grant of Rs 8,000 to Rs 30,000 farmers for taking power connection and Rs 45,000 to another Rs 30,000 of them for purchasing vehicles to carry their produce from the field to their house or market, Chatterjee said.

State secretariat sources said the Cabinet also cleared the deck for setting up a separate Lepcha Development Council in the Darjeeling Hills, an initiative which was strongly opposed by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

It also agreed to give two acres in New Town to former India captain Sourav Ganguly for setting up his school. Earlier, he was allocated a plot of land in Salt Lake area by the erstwhile Left Front Government for setting up his school. But Supreme Court cancelled the allotment terming it illegal.

If Ganguly agrees to accept the plot in New Town, he has to pay the required amount fixed by West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd, sources said.