On February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the budget for the financial year 2021-22. Preparations for it has started. In such a situation, the entire focus of the government is on the farmers. Due to the three agrarian laws, the government can make many big announcements in the interest of farmers in the budget amid the farmers' movement at the Delhi border.
It is quite likely that the central government can increase the current annual installment of Rs 6000 under the Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. In this budget, the farmers have demanded more from the government, stating that this amount is insufficient for agriculture and should be increased. The budget estimate (BE) for the financial year 2019-20 was around Rs 1.51 lakh crore, which increased to about Rs 1.54 lakh crore in the next financial year 2020-21. Apart from this, the allocation for rural development has also been increased to Rs 1.44 lakh crore in 2020-21 as compared to about Rs 1.40 lakh crore in 2019-20. Under PM Agricultural Irrigation Scheme, it has been increased from 9682 crores in 2019-20 to Rs 11,127 crore in 2020-21.
Rs 500 a month not sufficient to meet expenses
Farmers say that the amount received under the PM-Kisan scheme is Rs 500 per month, which is quite low. It takes about 3-3.5 thousand rupees to grow a paddy crop in 1 acre of land and about 2-2.5 thousand rupees is spent to grow the wheat crop. In such a situation, for farmers with more land, six thousand rupees is not sufficient. In such a situation, the amount should be increased so that the expenses can be met.
This scheme was started in December 2018
This scheme was started on December 1 2018 and under this, the central government gives Rs 6000 annually to the farmers' account as an installment of two thousand rupees thrice a year. All farmers get this benefit. Under this scheme, money is sent to the account during the period April-July, August-November, and December-March. According to the information given on the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi website, there are 11.47 crore beneficiaries of this scheme.