Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana: Presenting the Union Budget for the coronavirus-hit economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced a slew of measures for farmers of the country and said that the budget this year is aimed to double the farmers’ income. Before we get into the latest announcements under the government’s income schemes for farmers, let’s recap on the existing allocations under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana.
1. Notably, farmers belonging to any Indian state are eligible under this scheme.
2. Individuals who have filed income tax for their family in the previous Assessment years or those who receive a pension of more than Rs 10,000 are excluded from the list.
3. The Income Support was previously given only to farmer families who have cultivable land up to 2 hectares.
4. Farmers can apply directly for the PM Kisan scheme online by visiting the ‘Farmer corner’ of the government’s PM Kisan portal.
5. Those applying for the scheme mandatorily require Aadhaar Card to register under the PM Kisan Yojana
Budget 2021 Announcements For Farmers
Hailing the government’s initiatives towards farmers, Finance Minister Sitharaman said Rs 75,100 crore has been allocated for the farmers of the country. The government also announced an increase in agriculture credit target to Rs 16.5 lakh crore in FY 2021-22.
Amid massive farmer protests at Delhi borders, the procurement of produce by the government under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) will continue at a steady pace, the Finance Minister said. Under this, 43.36 lakh wheat-growing farmers will be benefited from government procurement under the MSP as against 35.57 lakh previously, she added.
“Amount paid to farmers for wheat procurement in 2019-2020 was ₹62,802 crore and in 2020-2021 it was further increased to ₹75,060 crore,” said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Nearly 1.4 farmers have benefited due to the MSP scheme.
Experts had predicted big reforms under the farming sector as the government continued to try to reach out to the protesting farmers. The Centre had introduced three contentious farm laws last year that led to widespread agitation by farmers across the country, mainly from Punjab and Haryana.