Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar jointly unveiled a series of initiatives aimed at bolstering agriculture, enhancing financial inclusion, and optimizing data utilization. The initiatives were launched by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and promise to revolutionize the agricultural landscape of the country.
Kisan Rin Portal (KRP)
One of the flagship initiatives introduced is the Kisan Rin Portal (KRP), which has been developed collaboratively by several government departments, including the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the Department of Financial Services, the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, the Department of Fisheries, RBI, and NABARD. KRP is set to transform access to credit services offered under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and facilitate farmers in availing subsidized agricultural credit through the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS).
Ghar Ghar KCC Abhiyaan
Another ambitious campaign unveiled is the KCC Ghar Ghar Abhiyaan, which aims to extend the benefits of the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme to every farmer across the nation. Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman assured full cooperation from banks to ensure the success of this campaign. She emphasized that the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has allocated substantial funds to the KCC scheme to facilitate easy access to short-term loans for farmers.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
Finance Minister Sitharaman commended the Ministry of Agriculture for its successful implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). She revealed that over 1,40,000 crores of insurance payouts have been disbursed to farmers so far, against a premium amount of Rs. 29,000 crores. She stressed the importance of extending real-time crop estimation to crops like Dalhan and Tilhan to facilitate better planning for imports if needed. Real-time crop estimation, she argued, would benefit the economy and ensure fair prices for farmers at the end of the crop season.
Technology and Transparency in Agriculture
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar highlighted the government's commitment to agriculture and the rural economy. He pointed out that the budget for the Ministry of Agriculture has seen a substantial increase from Rs. 23,000 crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 1,25,000 crore in 2023-24. Minister Tomar stressed the importance of technology and transparency in agriculture and mentioned the significance of real-time weather information, as outlined in the Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) Manual, to help farmers make informed decisions.
Connecting Farmers to KCC Scheme
Tomar mentioned that around 9 crore beneficiaries are under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, and the KCC Ghar Ghar Abhiyaan aims to connect approximately 1.5 crore beneficiaries who are not yet part of the KCC scheme. He also thanked the Ministry of Finance and banks for providing around 2 crore KCCs to farmers, even during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The minister emphasized that agriculture and the rural sector played a pivotal role in sustaining the economy during the pandemic.
Record Enrolment in PMFBY
Ritesh Chauhan, JS (Credit) and CEO of PMFBY, made a detailed presentation on the initiatives. He highlighted that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) witnessed record enrolment this year due to technological interventions.
Government's Commitment to Agriculture
The launch event was also attended by Minister of State for Agriculture Shobha Karandlaje, Kailash Chaudhary, Secretary Agriculture Manoj Ahuja, Secretary DFS Vivek Joshi, OSD (Credit) Ajit Kumar Sahu, CEO-PMFBY Ritesh Chauhan, Chairman NABARD Shaji KV, and various dignitaries from allied departments and the agricultural sector.
Initiatives such as the Kisan Rin Portal (KRP), Ghar-Ghar KCC Abhiyaan, and the WINDS Manual reflect the government's commitment to innovation, technology integration, and objective service delivery in the agricultural sector. These initiatives are poised to facilitate agricultural transformation and sustainable economic growth for farmers across the nation.
