Telangana government has asked the Centre to relax the existing rules for implementing PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme in the state, allowing even small and marginal farmers to participate in it.
S Niranjan Reddy, the Minister of Agriculture, has urged the Union government to promote the cultivation of oil seeds and pulses, as well as consider providing financial assistance to agriculture-related enterprises through the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
Reddy was taking part in a virtual session of the Union government's national conference of agriculture ministers from various states to discuss the agriculture infrastructure fund, Pradhan Mantri Samman Nidhi, Kisan Credit Cards, Digital Agriculture, oil seed cultivation, Oil Palm, and other issues. Union Minister for Industries and Commerce Piyush Goyal chaired over the event. Kailash Choudhary and Shobha Karandlaje, both Union Ministers of State for Agriculture, were also present.
The minister said that small and marginal farmers make up 91.48 percent of the farming community in Telangana, which has 1.5 crore acres of cultivable land. Due to the Central Government's rules, only 35.19 lakh farmers become eligible for Kisan Samman Nidhi.
He emphasised the importance of loosening the rules so that more farmers can benefit from the programme. He further pointed out that the Telangana State received only Rs.703.81 crore in the eighth installment of the scheme.
In addition to numerous other measures in the best interests of farmers, the Telangana government is spending Rs.15,000 crore to provide financial assistance to farmers through the Rythu Bandhu farm support scheme.
About PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme:
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-Kisan Yojana) is a government scheme that provides up to Rs 6,000 per year in basic income support to all small and marginal farmers. This 75,000-crore initiative aims to benefit 125 million farmers in India, regardless of their landholding size.
