West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the welfare of farmers remains the key plank of her government which wants to end their exploitation by middlemen.
Banerjee said her government will devise a new mechanism to ensure that farmers get the minimum support price (MSP) for their paddy.
In the new mechanism being adopted, a farmer will get cheque immediately after his paddy was procured at the collection centre set up by the government, she told reporters after attending a meeting of food and supplies department.
"Middlemen mislead the farmers about approaching the state paddy collection centres. We want to see an end to this practice by middlemen," Banerjee, also the ruling Trinamool Congress supremo, said.
The CM said the government aimed to procure 58 lakh metric tonnes of paddy crop from farmers this year.
"To achieve that, we aimed at increase the number of paddy collection centres. We want to bring smile on the farmers' face," the CM added.
The state has waived the taxes (khajna) of farmers and wanted to give them other incentives, she said.
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