Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday released 18 billion rupees as the next installment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) plan to more than 90 million farmers. The Prime Minister’s rapprochement comes amid continued protests by farmers against the three laws passed by Parliament in September to reform the agricultural sector.
A financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year is provided to eligible beneficiary farmers, payable in three equal quarterly installments of Rs 2,000 each through direct benefit transfer under the PM-KISAN program.
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Here is everything you need to know about PM-KISAN, the Modi government income transfer scheme for farmers:
1. The PM-KISAN scheme was launched on February 24, 2019, with the aim of increasing farmers’ incomes by providing support to all families of land-owning farmers across the country, so that they can bear the costs related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs.
2. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs 6,000 per year is transferred in three quarterly installments of Rs 2,000 directly to farmers’ bank accounts, subject to certain exclusion criteria related to higher income status.
3. The scheme became effective as of December 1, 2018 and the deadline for the identification of beneficiaries with respect to their eligibility was February 1, 2019.
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4. The responsibility of identifying the beneficiaries under the PM-KISAN scheme corresponds to the governments and administrations of the state territories and of the Union. A dedicated web portal www.pmkisan.gov.in has been launched for the scheme. Financial benefits are delivered to beneficiaries based on farmers’ data prepared and uploaded by them to the PM-Kisan web portal.
5. Initially, the plan provided income support for all small and marginal farming families across the country, with arable land of up to 2 hectares. Its scope was subsequently expanded as of June 1, 2019 to cover all farming families in the country, regardless of the size of their properties.
6. Wealthy farmers have been excluded from the plan, such as income taxpayers in the last year of evaluation, professionals such as doctors, engineers, lawyers, public accountants, and so on. and retirees earning at least Rs 10,000 per month (excluding MTS / Class IV / Group D employees).
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7. Special provisions have been made for northeastern states where land ownership rights are based on community, forest dwellers, and Jharkhand, which does not have up-to-date land records and restrictions on land transfers.
8. For registration, the farmer is required to approach the local patwari / revenue officer / nodal officer (PM-Kisan) appointed by the state government. Farmers can also self-register through the Farmers Corner on the portal. Farmers can also edit their names in the PM-KISAN database based on their Aadhaar database / card through Farmers Corner. Farmers can also find out the status of their payment through Farmers Corner on the portal. Details of the village beneficiaries are also available at Farmers Corner.
9. The Common Service Centers (CSC) have also been authorized to register farmers in the system by paying fees. These facilities at Farmers Corner are also available through CSC.
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10. The total number of beneficiaries expected to be covered by the plan is 140 million according to the 2015-16 agricultural census. Beneficiaries are entitled to their benefit during the four-month period in which their name is registered by the state nodal officer (SNO) in the PM-Kisan Portal.
11. The Union Ministry of Agriculture has also launched a 24×7 automated helpline based on IVRS for status verification. Farmers can dial 1800-11-5526 or 155261 to find out the status of their application. Additionally, farmers can now contact the PM KISAN team at [email protected].
(Source: Press Information Office)
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