Next Instalment of PM-KISAN | 26 Dec 2020
Why in News
Recently, the Prime Minister has virtually released the next instalment of financial benefit under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).
Key Points
- Rs. 18000 crores have been deposited in the bank account of more than 9 crore farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
- More than 1 lakh 10 thousand crore rupees have reached the account of farmers, since this scheme started in February 2019.
- Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi:
- Launched in February 2019, it is a Central Sector Scheme, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
- On its first anniversary, the PM-KISAN Mobile App developed and designed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was launched.
- Under the scheme, the Centre transfers an amount of Rs. 6,000 per year, in three equal instalments, directly into the bank accounts of the all landholding farmers irrespective of the size of their landholdings.
- The entire responsibility of identification of beneficiary farmer families rests with the State/UT Governments.
- It aims to:
- Reduce the input cost of the farmers.
- Ensure a fair price for the crop.
- Open new markets for the farmers to sell their crop.
- Supplement the financial needs of the Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs).
- Launched in February 2019, it is a Central Sector Scheme, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
- Farmer Centric Improvements:
- Fixed one and a half times the production cost as Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the farmers as per the recommendations of the long-standing Swaminathan Committee report and has also increased the number of crops for which MSP is available.
- Added more than a thousand online agricultural mandis.
- Worked towards forming groups of small farmers so that they can work as a collective force in their region.
- A campaign is underway to form more than 10,000 Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) which are being given financial help.
- Free treatment up to Rs. 5 lakh under Ayushman Bharat scheme has reduced the major concern of the lives of farmers.
- Better options are provided to farmers through the agricultural reforms.
- Soil Health Card Scheme.
- Neem Coating of Urea.
- Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) scheme to harness solar energy.
- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).