PM-KMY, a central sector social security scheme administered by the Agriculture Ministry, was launched by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar here on Friday.
Under PM-KMY, announced in the Budget 2019-20, a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 will be provided to eligible farmers on attaining the age of 60.
The Ministry has roped in CSC, a Special Purpose Vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MEITY), as exclusive "enrolling agency" to enrol subscribers.
"I have asked all village level entrepreneurs (VLEs) who run over 2 lakh CSCs in villages across India to register at least 100 small and marginal farmers by Independence Day," said CSC CEO Dinesh Tyagi.
He said all the CSCs will remain open on Independence Day also to complete the target of registering at least 2 crore farmers by Independence Day.
Noting that the enrolment process was very simple, Tyagi said any eligible farmer who wants to join the scheme can visit his nearest CSC along with his Aadhaar card and bank passbook.
He said VLEs at the CSCs will complete the on-line registration process after taking all relevant details of farmers.
"After the authentication process is completed, the enrolled farmer will be informed and his PM-KMY pension card with a unique pension account number will be generated."
The PM-KMY scheme is being implemented across the country, including Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (both newly created Union Territories), Tyagi said. "Farmers holding up to 2 lakh hectare farm land will be eligible for the PM-KMY scheme."
PM-KMY is a voluntary and contribution-based pension scheme for farmers in the age group of 18 to 40 years. Farmers will have to make a monthly contribution of Rs 55 to Rs 200 depending on the age of entry, in the pension fund till they reach the retirement age of 60 years.
The Central government will make an equal contribution of the same amount in the pension fund.
"Spouse is also eligible to get a separate pension of Rs 3,000 upon making separate contribution to the fund. In case of death of the farmer before the retirement date, the spouse may continue with the scheme. If the spouse does not wish to contribute, the total contribution made by the farmer along with interest will be paid to the spouse," Tyagi added.
( With inputs from IANS )