The government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has always been emphasizing on increasing the income of farmers and working for their socio-economic empowerment. Besides, the Central Government has taken several initiatives for the welfare of the Agriculture sector. Among these, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme is an important initiative. Progress of this scheme was reviewed by the Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a virtual meeting with the Agriculture Ministers of the States today. During the meeting, Shri Tomar said that no eligible farmer should be deprived of the benefits of this scheme. He also asked the States to complete the work of data verification and updation at the earliest.

Under the PM-KISAN, eligible farmers are given Rs. 6,000 in 3 equal instalments of Rs. 2,000 each every year, so that they can meet the agricultural and allied expenses along with the domestic needs. Since its launch in February-2019, 11 instalments have been disbursed under the PM-KISAN. More than Rs. 2 lakh crore has been transferred to about 11.37 crore eligible farmers through this scheme.

The benefit of PM-Kisan is given only to the farmers with land holdings. A database is being created for quick identification of eligible farmers for PM-KISAN and other schemes and farmers' welfare schemes to be launched in the future. It will have all the information including Aadhaar, bank account of farmers and the land records of farmers will be linked with their records. The land records of the States will have to be digitally converted to create the database. Today’s meeting was held in this regard.

Agriculture Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Bihar also presented their views in the meeting. Union Agriculture Secretary Shri Manoj Ahuja and Additional Secretary Shri Abhilaksh Likhi were present in the meeting along with Ministers/senior officers of other States. Joint Secretary and CEO of PM-Kisan, Dr. Pramod Kumar Meherda gave a presentation on the scheme.

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SNC/PK