PM-KISAN Scheme Extended to All Farmers, New Farm Pension Scheme Announced in Cabinet Meeting

Besides, over Rs 10,000 crore pension scheme for 5 crore farmers was also announced in the Cabinet meeting.

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi-led Central government, in the first Cabinet meeting on Friday, decided to extend PM-KISAN scheme to all farmers in the country. The move will benefit 14.5 crore farmers and cost Rs 87,000 crore a year.

Besides, over Rs 10,000 crore pension scheme for 5 crore farmers was also announced in the Cabinet meeting, thereby fulfilling the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) poll promise.

“The Union Cabinet has approved to extend the ambit of the scheme by including all land holding eligible farmer families under the scheme, subject to the prevalent exclusion criteria,” new Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told reporters after the meeting.

The Rs 75,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Siddhi (PMKSS) was announced in the interim Budget under which the government decided to provide Rs 6,000 per year (in three equal instalments) to an estimated 12.5 crore small and marginal farmers holding land up to 2 hectares.

“Now, the revised scheme envisages to cover around 2 crore more farmers increasing the coverage of the PM-KISAN to around 14.5 crore beneficiaries,” he said. Adding, the minister claimed that total burden on the exchequer will increase by Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 87,217.50 crore for the year 2019-20.

So far, the first instalment has been given to only 3.11 crore beneficiaries and second to 2.66 crore beneficiaries, as many states did not provide the data of eligible farmers, he said.

In another major decision, Tomar said the Cabinet also approved the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana under which small and marginal farmers will get a minimum fixed pension of Rs 3,000 per month on attaining the age of 60 years. The move would cost Rs 10,774.5 crore per annum to the exchequer.

This scheme is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme for a small and marginal farmers across the country, with the entry age of 18-40 years, he said.

The Centre said it will match the contribution made by the eligible farmer in the pension fund.

After the subscriber’s death, while receiving pension, the spouse of the beneficiary will be entitled to receive 50 per cent of the pension amount, provided he/she is not already a beneficiary of the scheme.

(Inputs from PTI)