In the assembly today, citing instances of farmers who allegedly suffered due to poor crop prices, Congress MLA Asit Mal asked if the state government was offering any grant to the families of the deceased.

“S Mullick of Memari village in Burdwan committed suicide recently, reportedly because that he couldn’t get fair price for the yield. In Birbhum, another person attempted suicide and had to be admitted to the Rampurhat Hospital,” he told The Indian Express.

In his reply, Dey said while a farmer’s death has been reported, its cause has not been ascertained yet. The superintendents of police in the respective districts have been asked for a report on the issue. However, there is no official report that suggests that farmers are committing suicide due to poor crop price and debt. “In our state no such incident has occurred,” he said.

Replying to a question raised by MLA Dilip Sarkar on whether the potato crop has been affected by untimely rain, the minister said the loss is negligible. The affected crop amounts to mere 0.20 per cent of the total yield, covering only 710 hectares of the total land under potato cultivation. The affected areas include Khanakul (Hooghly), Basirhat (North 24-Parganas) and Chandrakona (West Midnapore).