Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), the Government of India, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under which UNDP will provide technical assistance to the Centre's ambitious Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) scheme and the Kisan Credit Card – Modified Interest Subvention Scheme.
CEO-PMFBY Ritesh Chauhan and UNDP Resident Representative Shoko Noda signed the MoU in the presence of Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar. Under the terms of the agreement, UNDP will use its system expertise and global know-how to assist the Ministry of Agriculture in implementing combined agriculture credit and crop insurance. The signing ceremony was also witnessed by Union Minister of Agriculture for State Kailash Chaudhary and Secretary of Agriculture, Manoj Ahuja.
While speaking to the representatives of the various organizations, the Union Minister stated, "Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Agriculture Ministry is implementing schemes with complete transparency in the interest of crores of farmers across the country." All farmers will receive a direct benefit."
"While the farmers paid Rs 21000 crore premium under PMFBY, they have received more than Rs 1.15 lakh crore as compensation," Tomar continued. This demonstrates that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is benefiting the entire farming community. Similarly, massive efforts are being made in the Kisan Credit Card Scheme to provide benefits to farmers who were previously unable to take advantage of the scheme. "Every effort is being made to reach all small farmers, livestock farmers, and fishermen."
KCC-MISS and PMFBY were launched with the goal of addressing the shortcomings of previous Schemes and developing a structure that allows for better implementation options for all stakeholders while achieving the desired results.
Several new provisions have been added to the Schemes to that effect. One of the most notable aspects of the current schemes is that they apply uniformly across the country and include provisions for all crops.
According to the agreement, UNDP will provide responsive, demand-driven technical assistance for the effective implementation of agriculture credit and crop insurance, as well as capacity development and Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) support to existing national and state institutions, while keeping small and marginal farmers, women farmers, sharecroppers, and tenant farmers in mind.
Tomar commented on the strategic partnership with UNDP, "UNDP's technical assistance over the last four years has produced positive results. I am confident that by working together, we will achieve even better results in the implementation of crop insurance and agricultural credit schemes."
