The central government is set to release Rs 22,000 crore to the account of farmers as part of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi or PM KISAN Scheme soon, sources said. The money to be released shortly is the third installment for the December to March quarter of FY22. So far, the Centre has provided a sum amounting around Rs 1.57 lakh crore to farmer families under the scheme.
According to reports, the 1`0th installment will be released between December 15 to 25 by the government under the scheme. On Tuesday, government sources told CNBC TV18 that the Centre has so far spent Rs 43,000 crore for the PM KISAN scheme in financial year 2022 to help out farmer families. With the release of the third installment for December to March quarter, the Rs 65,000 crore budget allocated for this fiscal will be used up, the sources further said. They added that a further Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore may be additionally needed for PM KISAN in FY22 as more and more farmers are registering for the scheme.
The government expects to add 15 lakh more farmers to the scheme in West Bengal. The tally will then be up to 50 lakh farmers, up from the current 35 lakh, in the state, the sources said. The government has added close to 11 crore beneficiaries this year to the PM KISAN scheme so far, they added.
As per reports, the Centre is not looking to bring in any change in the current rules regarding the PM KISAN scheme.
An annual financial benefit of Rs 6,000 is provided to eligible beneficiary farmer families, payable in three equal four-monthly installments of Rs 2,000 each, under the PM-KISAN scheme. The scheme was announced in February 2019 in the Budget. The first installment was for December 2018- March 2019 period. The fund is transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
In August this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had virtually transferred about Rs 19,500 crore to over 9.75 crore beneficiaries farmers under the government’s PM-KISAN scheme. Addressing the virtual event in the presence of the prime minister, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that before the ninth installment, the central government had disbursed about Rs 1.37 lakh crore to around 11 crore beneficiaries under the scheme.
The government has linked 2.28 crore PM KISAN beneficiaries with Kisan Credit Card scheme, under which they have been able to avail loan up to Rs 2.32 lakh crore so far. He had also said the farmers have worked hard despite challenges of COVID-19 and ensured bumper production last year. Better output is expected in the coming days due to continued farmers’ efforts, Tomar had said.
The Kisan Credit Card scheme and the PM KISAN scheme are some of the many benefits that farmers receive from the government. The central scheme to provide the pensions for farmers include Pradhan Mantri Kisaan Samman Nidhi, PM Kisan Maandhan Yojana, PM Kisan Credit Card, and PM Kisan ID Cards.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana was launched to provide social security to farmers who are old and have lost all sources of income. The scheme is targeted for all farmers who have small land holdings and marginal farmers across the country. The government provides a pension of Rs 3,000 to such peasants every month to support their livelihood. Anyone between the ages of 18 to 40 are eligible to join the scheme and get its benefits after the retirement age of 60.
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