The Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar has said the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme is comprehensive, ambitious and will help boost farmers’ income. Addressing a function here today to mark the 1st anniversary of starting of the Scheme, Shri Tomar said the Central Sector Scheme PM-KISAN is among the several new initiatives undertaken by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi focusing on Agriculture and Rural Development sectors. The Prime Minister has set the target of doubling farmers’ income by the year 2022, he added.Shri Tomar said a budget of Rs.75,000 crore has been provided in the current Financial Year for the PM-KISAN scheme under which a total sum of Rs.6,000 each is being provided to farmers annually. More than Rs.50,850 crores has already been released, he added.Shri Tomar said more than 8.46 crore farmer families have been given the PM-KISAN benefits. He said the total number of beneficiaries to be covered under the scheme is about 14 crore, and the Government aims to cover 12 lakh farmers by the end of this Financial Year. Besides the Common Service Centres (CSCs), the Ministry has launched online procedure for farmers’ enrolment, he added.Pointing out that the West Bengal Government has not verified the farmers’ data from state, Shri Tomar appealed to the Chief Minister to expedite the process. He said an estimated 70 lakh farmers of the State are eligible, of whom about 10 lakh farmers have applied individually online, but the entire database has to verified by the State Government. Eligible farmers from the state can avail Rs.4,000 crore of benefits under the PM-KISAN Scheme once the State Government furnishes the data, he added.
Shri Tomar said the Prime Minister has declared that all KISAN beneficiaries will be given the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) so that farmers can take easy loans from the banks. The Government has included Animal Husbandry and Fisheries sectors under the ambit of the KCC Scheme. He said a massive distribution drive will be held on 29th February during which KCCs will be issued to farmers at 20,000 bank branches spread across the country. The Prime Minister will himself disburse KISAN benefits to select farmers and distribute KCC cards at the main function at Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh on this day. 10,000 new Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) are being registered and each will get a support of Rs. 15 lakh from the government to promote agriculture.Shri Tomar said, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Government has not only launched a slew of schemes towards boosting rural income, but also set in place an exhaustive implementation mechanism with transparent procedures and earmarked liberal funds. As per the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee, the Government has set the Minimum Support Price (MSP) at one-and-a-half times of the production cost to farmers. He said the Government is promoting organic farming and more than 6 lakh hectares land has been brought under it.On the occasion, Shri Tomar launched the PM-KISAN Mobile App, which offers farmers access to a host of features related to their benefits. The farmers can view the status of their application, update or carry out corrections of their Aadhaar cards and also check history of credits to their bank accounts.Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Shri Sanjay Agarwal, said the Department will finalise by June, 2020 a comprehensive farmers’ database covering major Schemes like the Soil Health Card, PM-KISAN and KCC.