PM KISAN Scheme

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why in News?
• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)
• Objective of PM-KISAN
• Definition of Farmer’s Family
• Pattern of Funding
• Who is Eligible for PM-Kisan Scheme?
• Who is Not Eligible for the Scheme?
• Performance/Achievements of the PM-KISAN Scheme
• News Summary

Why in News?

• The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare launched an AI chatbot — the first of its kind to be integrated with a major flagship scheme of the central government — for the PM-KISAN Scheme.

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN):

• The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) Yojana came into effect from December 1, 2018.
• Under the scheme, income support of Rs 6000 per annum is provided to all eligible farmer families across the country in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each every four months.
• The fund of Rs 2,000 is directly transferred to the bank accounts of the eligible farmers/farmer's family under the Direct Benefit Transfer Mode.
• Nodal Ministry - Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare

Objective of PM-KISAN:

• To supplement the financial needs of all landholding farmers’ families in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, commensurate with the anticipated farm income as well as for domestic needs.

Definition of Farmer’s Family:

• A landholder farmer’s family is defined as “a family comprising of husband, wife and minor children” who owns cultivable land as per land records of the concerned State/UT.
• The entire identification process of the family rests with the State/UT Governments.

Pattern of Funding:

• It is a Central Sector Scheme with 100% funding from the Central Government.

Who is Eligible for PM-Kisan Scheme?

• Landholding farmers’ families with cultivable landholding in their names,
• Farmers from both the urban and rural areas,
• Small and Marginal farmers families.

Who is Not Eligible for the Scheme?

• Institutional landholder,
• Present or retired officers and employees of state/central government as well as PSUs and government autonomous bodies,
• Beneficiaries with higher economic status are not eligible,
• Those who pay income tax,
• Farmer families holding constitutional posts,
• Professionals like doctors, engineers and lawyers,
• Retired pensioners with a monthly pension of over Rs 10,000.

Performance/Achievements of the PM-KISAN Scheme:

• The scheme provides income support to landholding farmers in India, which helps them procure various inputs related to agriculture and allied activities and their domestic needs.
• The government is trying to reach and pass on the benefits to all eligible farmer families through this scheme. This is one of the finest examples of good governance.
• More than 11 crore farmers have availed the scheme and an amount of Rs 2.42 lakh crore has been transferred to their accounts.
  • This makes it the largest DBT scheme in the country.
• The process of registration of beneficiaries has been made simple and easy through a mobile app — PM KISAN portal.
• The scheme also provides for grievance redressal and a helpdesk.
  • Through this initiative, more than 13.5 lakh grievances have been addressed by the concerned state authorities.
• The scheme has a significant impact on easing liquidity constraints as a large share of farmers have constraints on obtaining formal credit.
• While the scheme is pitched as a general cash transfer scheme for farmers, its role in the adoption of modern technologies remains an important contributing factor in the modernisation of agriculture by enhancing productive investment by farmers.

News Summary:

• The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare launched an AI chatbot — the first of its kind to be integrated with a major flagship scheme of the central government — for the PM-KISAN Scheme.
• The introduction of the AI Chatbot in the PM-KISAN grievance management system is aimed at empowering farmers with a user-friendly and accessible platform.
• In the initial phase of the development, the AI Chatbot will assist farmers in seeking information related to their application status, payment details, ineligibility status and other scheme-related updates.
• The chatbot is currently available in English, Hindi, Bengali, Odia and Tamil, and will soon be available in all 22 official languages of the country.

Q1) What is Marginal Farming?

According to the RBI, a 'Marginal Farmer' is a farmer who cultivates up to 1 hectare of agricultural land (as an owner, renter, or sharecropper) (2.5 acres). A farmer farming agricultural land of more than 1 hectare and up to 2 hectares (as owner, renter, or sharecropper) is referred to as a “small farmer” (5 acres).

Q2) What is the meaning of Subsistence Agriculture?

Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no surplus.

Source: Govt launches AI chatbot for PM-Kisan scheme  | Business Standard