Farmers Movement Archive

PM-KISAN: All you need to know about Centre’s income transfer scheme for farmers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday released Rs 18,000 crore as the next instalment under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme to more than 90 million farmers. The Prime Minister’s outreach comes amid the ongoing farmers’ protests against the three laws passed by Parliament in September to reform the farm sector.A financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year is provided to the eligible beneficiary farmers, payable in three equal four-monthly instalments of Rs 2,000 each through direct benefit transfer under the PM-KISAN Scheme. Also read | BJP ups ante against TMC as PM Modi releases financial benefits to farmersHere is all you need to know about PM-KISAN, the Modi government’s income transfer scheme for farmers:1. The PM-KISAN scheme was launched on February 24, 2019, with an aim to augment the income of the farmers by providing support to all landholding farmers’ families across the country, to enable them to take care of expenses 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 four-monthly instalments of Rs 2000 directly into the bank accounts of the farmers, subject to certain exclusion criteria relating to higher-income status.3. The scheme became effective from December 1, 2018, and the cut-off date for identification of beneficiaries with regard to their eligibility was February 1, 2019. Also read | ‘Ready to talk to those who are against us ’: PM Modi’s top quotes4. The responsibility of identification of beneficiaries under PM-KISAN scheme rests with the governments and administrations of state and Union territories. An exclusive web-portal www.pmkisan.gov.in has been launched for the scheme. The financial benefits are released to the beneficiaries on the basis of the data of farmers prepared and uploaded by them on the PM-Kisan web-portal.5. The scheme initially provided income support to all small and marginal Farmers’ families across the country, holding cultivable land up to 2 hectares. Its ambit was later expanded from June 1, 2019, to cover all farmer families in the country irrespective of the size of their landholdings. 6. Affluent farmers have been excluded from the scheme such as income taxpayers in last assessment year, professionals like doctors, engineers, lawyers, chartered accountants etc and pensioners drawing at least Rs 10,000 per month (excluding MTS/Class IV/Group D employees). Also read | If not found beneficial, we will amend the farm laws: Rajnath Singh7. Special provisions have been made for the North-Eastern States where land ownership rights are community based, Forest dwellers and Jharkhand, which does not have updated land records and restrictions on the transfer of land.8. For enrollment, the farmer is required to approach the local patwari/revenue officer/nodal officer (PM-Kisan) nominated by the state government. Farmers can also do their self-registration through the Farmers Corner on the portal. Farmers can also edit their names in PM-KISAN database as per their Aadhaar database/card through the Farmers Corner. Farmers can also know the status of their payment through the Farmers Corner in the portal. Village-wise details of beneficiaries are also available on the Farmers Corner.9. The Common Service Centres (CSCs) have also been authorised to register farmers for the scheme upon payment of fees. These facilities on Farmers Corner are also available through CSCs. Also read | What agriculture needs: Risk mitigation10. The total number of beneficiaries expected to be covered under the scheme is 140 million on the basis of the agriculture census, 2015-16. Beneficiaries are entitled to their benefit from the four-monthly period in which their name is registered by the state nodal officer (SNO) in the PM-Kisan Portal. 11. The Union agriculture ministry has also launched a 24x7 automated IVRS based helpline for status verification. Farmers can dial 1800-11-5526 or 155261 to know the status of their application. Besides, farmers can now reach out to the PM KISAN team on email pmkisan-ict@gov.in.(Source: Press Information Bureau)

Hindustan Times

25-12-2020

India