Kolkata, Aug 31 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday remembered the martyrs of the 1959 Khadya Andolan and said her government has ensured food security for 90 per cent of the state's population.
"Remembering the martyrs of 1959 Khadya Andolan. In Bangla, we provide food security to 90% (8.59 crore) of the State's people, through the Khadya Sathi scheme," Banerjee wrote on Twitter.
West Bengal witnessed a mass movement in the late 1958 by the then undivided CPI and other left groups protesting against the food crisis. The movement for food (Khadya Andolon) reached its peak in August, 1959 after several people involved in the movement including farmers and women, were killed in police firing during a protest rally.
Banerjee who came to power in the state in 2011, also said her government also provides special assistance to the people of Maoist-infested Jangalmahal comprising of Bengal's western districts, north Bengal hills and coastal regions of state that is often hit by cyclone.
