PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna, also known as PM-KISAN, is a government scheme that provides financial assistance to farmers across India. The scheme was announced by the Finance Minister in the Interim Budget 2019 and officially launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 24, 2019, from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Under the PM-KISAN scheme, eligible farmers receive a monetary benefit of Rs. 6,000 per year in three equal installments of Rs. 2,000 each. The amount is directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. The objective of the scheme is to provide financial support to small and marginal farmers in India, who often struggle to make ends meet due to various reasons, including unpredictable weather conditions, low productivity, and lack of access to credit and markets.
To be eligible for the scheme, a farmer should be a citizen of India and should have cultivated land under his/her name. The farmer should also possess a valid Aadhaar number, and the land should be registered in his/her name in the revenue records. The scheme covers all farmers, including tenant farmers, sharecroppers, and farmer families that own cultivable land up to 2 hectares.
As of March 2021, more than 11 crore farmers have been registered under the scheme, and about Rs. 1,20,000 crores have been disbursed. The scheme has also been extended to the farmers of Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
The PM-KISAN scheme has been lauded as a historic step towards ensuring the welfare of farmers in India. The scheme has helped farmers to access financial resources, and they can now invest in better seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation facilities, leading to increased productivity. The scheme has also resulted in the promotion of sustainable agriculture, which is the need of the hour.
In conclusion, the PM-KISAN scheme is a game-changing initiative by the Indian government to address the issues faced by farmers in the country. The scheme provides much-needed financial support to the Indian farmers, thereby ensuring the growth and development of the agricultural sector. It is a much-needed step in achieving the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat and doubling the farmers’ income in India.