Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will release the 22nd installment of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi tomorrow, providing direct benefit of ₹18,640 crore to 9.32 crore farmers
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will release the 22nd installment of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi tomorrow, providing direct benefit of ₹18,640 crore to 9.32 crore farmers
Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan addressed journalists at his residence today. In his address, he stated that in a major step towards unprecedented progress in the agriculture sector and farmers’ welfare by the Government of India, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will tomorrow, on 13th March, at a programme organised in Guwahati, Assam, transfer ₹18,640 crore directly into the accounts of 9.32 crore farmers of the country as the 22nd installment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme.
Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh informed that under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, more than ₹4,09,000 crore has been distributed so far through DBT. Especially, more than 2.15 crore women farmers are also included in it. He said studies show that this direct financial assistance has led to an increase in agricultural investment and reduced farmers’ dependence on moneylenders, thereby strengthening the rural economy. Shri Shivraj Singh said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the great ‘yajna’ of agriculture development and farmers’ welfare will continue uninterrupted.
Achievements in the agriculture sector in last one decade
While addressing the journalists, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan shed light on the progress made by the Government of India in the agriculture sector over the past 12 years and said that India has now emerged from a country facing grain shortages to become a global power, and this has been realised due to the government’s policies and the hard work of farmers. He informed that India, with 150 million tonnes of rice production, has now surpassed China to become number one in the world in this regard.
The Union Agriculture Minister stated that compared to the total food grain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014, the country’s total food grain production has now increased to 357 million tonnes. There has also been a remarkable increase in horticulture. Fruit and vegetable production has risen from 277 million tonnes to 369 million tonnes. He said that today India is moving towards self-reliance in pulse production. Today, India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses. The government is making record purchases of pulses like tur, masoor and urad.
Shri Shivraj Singh said that to assist farmers, the government has launched the first phase of an AI digital platform named ‘Bharat Vistar’. Through this, farmers will be able to obtain all farming related information in their local language with just one phone call. In the past years, we have made record purchases of wheat, paddy, cotton, oilseeds, and pulses at MSP and ensured that farmers buy fertilisers at cheap rates.
Important reforms on the financial security front as well
The Union Agriculture Minister stated that agricultural credit, which was ₹8,45,000 crore in 2014, has now increased to ₹28,69,000 crore. Under the Crop Insurance Scheme, claims amounting to nearly ₹2 lakh crore have been deposited into farmers’ accounts. Along with this, there has been a massive increase in the budget. The agriculture budget of ₹27,000 crore during the UPA government has now increased to more than ₹1.40 lakh crore annually.