In a huge enhancement to the agricultural sector, the farmers in Gujarat will be offered financial assistance totaling 986 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme to more than 49 lakh farmers. The announcement is accompanied by the release of the 19th instalment of the scheme, which remains instrumental in helping farmers in India through direct income assistance.
In 2019, PM-KISAN was introduced, which provides financial support of 6,000 per annum to qualified farming families and is paid in three installments. The new payment will be sent directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries in Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), which will be transparent and will do away with middlemen. Through this release, Gujarat is among the top states in regard to beneficiaries covered by the scheme.
This financial injection will see over 49 lakh registered farmers in the state receive an added boost of financial assistance in terms of agricultural expenditures, crop management and household, according to official figures. As the costs of inputs increase, the weather becomes uncertain, and there is usually a change in the prices in the market, the instalment will alleviate a lot of financial pressure on a number of farming families. The government officials have highlighted that the initiative is in line with their long-term vision of empowering rural incomes and guaranteeing further growth of agriculture.
The Government of Gujarat has also been vigorously campaigning to increase coverage of PM-KISAN so that eligible farmers can be registered in time. The awareness drives and the camps have been arranged in several districts to assist farmers in updating the documents, linking Aadhaar information, and fixing anomalies in the applications. The government said that it is working to bring on board additional farmers who might have been excluded because of missing documents or technical faults.
The latest edition has been received well by the state farmers, who have described it as the right time, given the coming farmland season. It is even stated that even moderate financial assistance is needed by many to buy the necessary inputs in the form of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, as well as equipment needed to cultivate.
Since its inception, PM-KISAN has provided more than 3 lakh crore to several million farmers in the country with the implementation of the 19th instalment. This program remains among the biggest income support programs in the nation, and it has a direct impact on enhancing livelihoods among rural people and stabilizing farm produce.
With Gujarat farmers getting ready to initiate another cultivation cycle, the new ₹986 crore disbursement should bring short-term relief and prove the mentality of the government to take care of the backbone of the Indian agrarian economy.
