West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that a law that allows attachment and auction of farmland for failure to repay loans would soon be amended in the state.
She has severely criticized the former communist government for legislating the West Bengal Cooperative Societies Act, 2006,
that allowed this, and according to her it only showed the anti-farmer attitude of the communists.
However, Mamta Banerjee’s statement has drawn fierce criticism from the left circles. They have charged that Chief Minister’s stand would not only harm the cooperative movement in the state but would also expose poor farmers to the usurious traditional moneylenders.
Sources having knowledge of the cooperative scene in West Bengal also fear that Mamta’s populist may adversely affect the growth of the cooperative sector in the state.