Raipur, Mar 8 (IANS): In a bid to bag the mandate of rural families to form the government for the third consecutive time, Chhattisgarh's BJP government has decided to speed up disbursal of paddy bonus, a touchy issue for this agrarian state.

Official sources said that in the next four months, each farmer out of over 10 lakh families will get his share in the Rs.1,900-crore (approximately $340 million) bonanza forked out by the BJP regime in its recently proposed budget estimates.

Notably, the state government it its 2013-14 budget announced the provision of Rs.1,900 crore for paying bonus to farmers at the rate of Rs.270 per quintal on every quintal of paddy procured from them during the 2012 kharif (rainy) season.

It is reported that over 71 million tonnes of paddy has so far been procured from over 10 lakh farming families in the state.

As per the declared rate of bonus of Rs.270 per quintal, on an average, each family will net up Rs.19,000 approximately in bonus. The state goes to assembly polls later this year and the BJP regime is hopeful of making a hat-trick comeback to power.

Assembly elections aredue in Chhattisgarh later this year.