New Delhi (NVI): Under the Central Government’s flagship scheme, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, popularly known as PM-KISAN, 8.46 crores farmer families have been given the benefits, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare said today.
As the scheme completes one year on February 24, the Government in a statement said that it has disbursed Rs 50,850 crore to farmers so far under the scheme.
Launched in February 2019, the cash transfer scheme basically seeks to raise farmer incomes. It was launched amid a widespread and prolonged period of agrarian distress.
The scheme was aimed at addressing the liquidity problems of farmers for meeting their expenses for acquisition of agricultural inputs and services.
PM-KISAN was formally launched on February 24 last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a grand function in Gorakhpur. The implemented scheme provides each eligible farmer’s family Rs 6,000 per annum in three instalments of Rs 2,000 each.
Initially, farmers with less than two hectares of land were eligible; subsequently, the benefit was extended to all farmers (about 140 million farmers) from June last year onwards. The amount is transferred directly to the beneficiary’s bank account to check leakages.
The entire responsibility of identification of beneficiaries rests with the state/UT governments. An exclusive web-portal www.pmkisan.gov.in has also been launched for the scheme.
The scheme is effective from December 1, 2018. The cut-off date for identification of beneficiaries with regard to their eligibility is February 1, 2019.
