1.2 crore farmers eligible for Centre’s scheme

MUMBAI: Of the 1.52 crore farmers in the state, 1.2 crore (80%) are eligible for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sanman Nidhi (PMKSN) scheme declared by the Modi government for small or marginal farmers with a landholding of less than five acres, according to the agriculture survey held in 2015-16.

Union finance minister, in his interim budget last week, announced an annual subsidy of ₹6,000 to small and marginal farmers.

The farmers paying income tax, receiving pension and professionals such as doctors, chartered accountants and elected representatives have been excluded from the purview of the scheme. The annual payout to farmers in the state will be ₹7,200 crore.

The state government has begun the process of collecting the data and gathering the infor- mation of the eligible farmers. Konkan region has the highest number of farmers eligible for the scheme, as of the 14.86 lakh farmers, 84.5% are small and marginal ones. In Pune division, 84% of the total 37.24 lakh farmers fit the criterion. While 78% of the 26.94 lakh farmers in Nashik will benefit from the scheme, 73% (19.13 lakh) from Amravati division are eligible. Aurangabad division has 79.5% eligible farmers (of total 39.53 lakh), while Nagpur division has 76% (of 15.14 lakh) eligible farmers.

“We have directed all district collectors to prepare the list of beneficiaries at the earliest,” said agriculture minister Chandrakant Patil.

According to officials from the department, the first instalment of ₹2,000 is expected to be deposited in the bank accounts by the beginning of March.

The collectors have been directed to use the data utilised for farm loan waiver and other farm schemes.