Maal said that he met the state minister for finance Asim Dasgupta, on Friday. Dasgupta told him that the state is ready with its share for payment but the contributions to be made by the central government and the insurance companies are awaited.
“The minister has told me that he will take up the matter with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Both, Centre and the state, are to pay Rs 98 crore each in the total insurance claim of Rs 226 crore. The potato production was expected to be around 90 lakh tonnes last year. But only 75 lakh tonne potatoes could be produced. Around 10 lakh farmers were affected,” Maal said.