New Delhi: To provide an assured income support to the small and marginal farmers, the Central Government announced Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). The programme would be made effective from December 1, 2018 and the first installment for the period upto March 31, 2019 would be paid during this year itself.
While presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20 in Parliament, Union Minister Finance Piyush Goyal on Friday said, “Under this programme, vulnerable landholding farmer families, having cultivable land upto 2 hectares, will be provided direct income support at the rate of Rs 6,000 per year.
This income support will be transferred directly into the bank accounts of beneficiary farmers, in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each. This programme will be funded by Central Government. Around 12 crore small and marginal farmer families are expected to benefit from this.
This programme will entail an annual expenditure of Rs 75,000 crore, said Goyal.
“PM-KISAN would not only provide assured supplemental income to the most vulnerable farmer families, but would also meet their emergent needs especially before the harvest season. It would pave the way for the farmers to earn and live a respectable living,” said Goyal.
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi is a modification of the Rythu Bandhu scheme of the Telangana Government and KALIA scheme of the Odisha Government. The Rythu scheme provides assistance on a per-acre basis (Rs 8,000 per acre per year) without any holding size limit while under KALIA scheme a financial assistance of Rs 25,000 in every crop seasons.
