The government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has always prioritized increasing farmer income and working for their socioeconomic empowerment. Furthermore, the Central Government has launched a number of initiatives to benefit the agriculture sector. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme is a significant initiative among these.
The Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, reviewed the scheme's progress today in a virtual meeting with state agriculture ministers. Tomar stated during the meeting that no eligible farmer should be denied the benefits of this scheme. He also requested that the states complete the work of data verification and updating as soon as possible.
Under the PM-KISAN, eligible farmers receive Rs. 6,000 in three equal instalments of Rs. 2,000 each year, allowing them to meet agricultural and allied expenses as well as domestic needs. Since its inception in February 2019, the PM-KISAN has distributed 11 instalments. Through this scheme, over Rs. 2 lakh crore has been transferred to approximately 11.37 crore eligible farmers.
The benefit of PM-Kisan is only available to farmers who own land. A database is being developed in order to quickly identify eligible farmers for PM-KISAN and other future schemes and farmer welfare schemes. It will contain all of the information, including Aadhaar, bank accounts for farmers, and land records for farmers. To create the database, the states' land records must be digitally converted. In this regard, today's meeting was held.
Agriculture Ministers from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Bihar were also present.
The meeting was attended by Union Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja and Additional Secretary Abhilaksh Likhi, as well as Ministers/Senior Officers from other States. Dr. Pramod Kumar Meherda, Joint Secretary and CEO of PM-Kisan, gave a presentation on the scheme.
