Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday released the ninth instalment of financial benefit of about Rs 19,500 crore to over 9.75 crore farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme via video conferencing on Monday. Under the PM-KISAN scheme, an annual financial benefit of Rs 6,000 is provided to eligible beneficiary farmer families, payable in three equal four-monthly installments of Rs 2000 each. This will enable the transfer of an amount of more than Rs 19,500 crore to more than 9.75 crore beneficiary farmer families, the PMO said. Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Union ministers of State for agriculture Kailash Choudhary and Shobha Karandlaje, as well as agriculture secretary Sanjay Aggarwal were also present on the occasion.
PM Modi credited farmers with working hard despite the hurdles presented by the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuring bumper production last year. “This amount will help the small farmers a lot,” he said during the interaction. The Prime Minister also talked about ‘Mission honey bee’ and saffron production in Kashmir in his address. Tomar expressed concern over shortage of edible oils and pulses and said the government is taking measures to boost domestic production so as to reduce its reliance on imports. The Prime Minister also talked about the role farmers are slated to play in the country’s future. “Where do we want to see India in the coming 25 years? When the country will complete 100 years of Independence what will the state of the country be? This will be decided by the farmers of this country,” he said, adding that farmers need to be given guidance and direction so they can tackle new challenges and make use of new changes.