Day 27 – Q 5.Discuss the features, significance and performance of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi.

5. Discuss the features, significance and performance of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. 

प्रधानमंत्री किसान सम्मान निधि की विशेषताओं, महत्व और प्रदर्शन पर चर्चा करें।

Introduction:

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi a scheme announced in the interim budget, under which vulnerable landholding farmer families, having cultivable land up to 2 hectares, will be provided with direct income support of Rs. 6000 per year.

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Recently the scope of the scheme has been expanded to cover all farmers in the country irrespective of the size of their landholdings. The revised scheme is expected to cover around 2 crores more farmers and increase total coverage of PM-KISAN to around 14.5 crore beneficiaries. It also costs Central Government around Rs. 87,000 crores for the year 2019-2020.

Features of PM KISAN Scheme:

• PM KISAN is a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from Government of India
• Under the scheme income support of Rs.6000/- per year in three equal instalments will be provided to small and marginal farmer families having combined land holding/ownership of up to 2 hectares
• Definition of the family for the scheme is husband, wife and minor children.
• State Government and UT Administration will identify the farmer families which are eligible for support as per scheme guidelines.
• The fund will be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

Significance of PM KISAN Scheme

• It provides support to small and marginal farmers who are largely involved in subsistence farming and struggles to invest in agriculture inputs or technology,
• It will boost the rural consumption and positive for agriculture and allied sectors.
• Poverty reduction: Cash transfer programmes are an important tool of social protection and poverty reduction. They have an immediate impact on reducing hunger and rural poverty.
• Better use: This can increase productive investment, increase access to markets and stimulate local economies. Income support can be used to make a repayment or at least activate a bank account which can then receive a loan.
• Rural development: It can serve as an important complement to a broader rural development agenda, including a pro-poor growth strategy focusing on agriculture.

Similar programmes by states:

• Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana in Madhya Pradesh was sought to provide relief to farmers by providing the differential between MSPs and market prices.
• The Rythu Bandhu scheme of the Telangana government provides ₹5,000 per acre for every season to all the farmers of the state.
• Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) of Odisha is more complicated in design and implementation. It commits to give Rs 5,000 per SMF, twice a year, that is Rs 10,000 a year.

Performance of PM KISAN Scheme

• About 60 per cent eligible farmers are deprived of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi benefits as the States have not added them to the list of beneficiaries.
• Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat are the top States which have registered the maximum number of beneficiaries while West Bengal has not joined the scheme yet.
• About 79 per cent of the current beneficiaries have received the first instalment, while 59 per cent have received the second instalment.
• Payment has been stopped in a few circumstances as there were discrepancies in their bank account details.

 The Need of the hour is to improve infrastructure in agriculture which would help farmers in getting a competitive price for their produce and access to markets. Government must focus on three things: crop insurance, better irrigation and subsidised seed and fertilisers.

Conclusion

PM-KISAN is an ambitious scheme that has the potential to deliver significant welfare outcomes. However, the current top-down, rushed approach of the government ignores governance constraints and therefore an alternative bottom-up strategy and well-planned implementation mechanism would allow weaknesses to be identified and rectified at the local level.