~50,850 crore disbursed under PM-KISAN: Govt

The Centre on Saturday said it had disbursed ~50,850 crore to farmers so far under its Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, enabling them to meet farm input cost and household expenses.

The Centre on Saturday said it has disbursed ~50,850 crore to farmers so far under its landmark scheme PM-KISAN, enabling them to meet farm input cost and household expenses.

The agriculture ministry shared the progress made under the scheme, ahead of its first anniversary on February 24.

The PM-KISAN was formally launched on February 24 last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.

Under the scheme, the Centre transfers an amount of ~6,000 per year, in three equal instalments, directly into the bank accounts of the farmers, subject to certain exclusion criteria relating to higher income status.

“February 24, 2020 is the 1st anniversary of starting of a new Central Sector Scheme, namely, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN),” an official statement said.

The scheme was launched to provide income support to all landholding farmers’ families across the country and enable them to meet expenses related to agriculture as well as domestic needs, it added.

“The Central Government has already released more than ~50,850 crores till now,” the ministry said. Total number of beneficiaries covered under the scheme is about 14 crore, based on estimates of the Agriculture Census 2015-16.

As on February 20 this year, 8.46 crores farmer families have been given the benefits.