Modi launches PM-Kisan scheme, transfers Rs 2,021 cr to over 10 mn farmers

Economy & Policy:

Gautam Pawar, a farmer with a wiry build, hailing from Maharashtra, was mobbed by news channels, jostling for his “bite” after he had shared the stage with PM Narendra Modi at the Fertiliser Factory Ground here. The occasion was the launch of arguably the world’s largest farm sector scheme, titled the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-Kisan). Modi handed over Kisan Credit Cards to a few farmers, including Pawar. The yojana is estimated to cost the exchequer Rs 75,000 crore annually.

It will benefit more than 120 million small and marginal farmers in India, including 21.4 million in Uttar Pradesh (UP), the biggest beneficiary among the states of the country.

With the farmer outreach through the launch of the scheme, the BJP laid down its template for the Lok Sabha polls, with the development agenda of 2014 having been replaced with the farm narrative. This comes at a time when the Congress has been insisting on farm loan waiver, especially after the party tasted success in the recent Assembly polls in the Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

Modi in his speech was high on symbolism. He wore a light green kurta along with a saffron-hued waistcoat, subtly signifying the balance between the BJP’s twin agendas of agriculture and Hindutva.
The high turnout on the concluding day of the BJP Kisan Morcha’s two-day national convention was aimed at blunting the Opposition tirade on the purported farm distress under the Modi dispensation.

 Modi spiced his modulated speech with descriptions of farm-related achievements of his government. “You know when the PM-Kisan scheme was announced in Parliament, the faces of Opposition leaders became grim,” he said, alleging Opposition leaders had launched a misinformation campaign or just spreading lies...Read More

Modi govt's minimum income guarantee scheme was for landless farmers too

Economy & Policy:
The Narendra Modi government had intended the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) — its latest flagship scheme — as a minimum income guarantee programme for all farm sector workers, whether they hold land or not. The plan was scrapped as the Centre realised it will be difficult to identify landless farmers.

Officials involved with 2019-20 interim Budget told Business Standard that discussions on an income or price support scheme for an ailing agricultural sector started around August 2018. Initially, the discussion was held among central government departments, including the Prime Minister’s Office, finance ministry and Niti Aayog. Then, discussions widened to include agricultural experts, economists and other stakeholders.

The decision to scrap the plan for landless workers and focus only on small and marginal farmers was made as there was no proper method to find out who qualify as landless labourers, an official said.
“The discussions centred around whether it will be for all and if everyone will be included to make it a sector-specific minimum income guarantee programme, or will it be for small and marginal farmers,” the official said.


 As reported earlier, various models were discussed, including income support scheme and price support scheme. The official said a price support scheme, on the lines of Bhawantar of the Madhya Pradesh government, gained backers in the government. The Centre was even considering a “retrospective price support scheme”, wherein farmers would be paid the difference between the minimum support price and the market price for a produce, not only for the current season, but also for a few past seasons. This plan was also deemed unworkable.

No support for govt employees, taxpayers under PM-KISAN scheme for farmers

Interim Budget 2019:

Families of farmers who have one or more members paying taxes or are a government employee will be ineligible for benefit under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.


Families with at least one member drawing a monthly pension of Rs 10,000 will be ineligible, according to the guidelines issued to the states by the Centre on Wednesday. Families who have professionals such as doctors, engineers, lawyers, chartered accountants or architects will be left out too.

Announced in the Interim Budget, the scheme is supposed to provide an additional Rs 6,000 per annum income support to small and marginal farmers.A small or marginal farmer family is defined as "a family comprising husband, wife, and minor children, who collectively own cultivable land up to 2 hectare according to the land records of the state or Union Territory".


Families of former members of Parliament or Legislative Assemblies or even chairpersons of district panchayats would also be ineligible for benefit.


Some government employees, however, have been exempted from exclusion, such as those among the multitasking staff or classified in Class IV or Group "D" categories.

 The guidelines also said state governments can allow self-declaration of the beneficiary for exclusion, but the entire income-support transferred to him could be recovered and penal action initiated if the declaration is incorrect...Read More