New Delhi: The first installment of Rs 2000 under the assured farm income programme of the Narendra Modi Government is likely to be credited to the farmers account on February 24 by the Prime Minister.
As per reports, the Centre is formulating a plan to transfer the first two installments of Rs 2000 each before the elections to the Lok Sabha begins. The second installment could be transferred in the first week of April.
The assured firm income of Rs 6000 for small and marginal farmers with up to two acres of land was announced in the interim budget. Elections are due in April-May and the Modi Government’s big announcement is being seen as an attempt to reach out to the farming class and address the agrarian crisis. The scheme has been christened as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM KISAN)
“Though the enrollment on the PM-Kisan portal is yet to start, data are currently verified by the states and we expect to transfer the first installment smoothly,” a government official told the Financial Express.
Whatever data will be verified by February 20 will be considered for the direct transfer scheme on February 24, he said. Farmers, who will be getting the first installment will also be eligible to receive the second tranche due for April-July period, he added.
As per reports, BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are the first two states who have compiled the database of small and marginal farmers. Uttar Pradesh has also been insisting on self declaration by farmers.
Though the Aadhaar number is not mandatory in the first installment, in the subsequent transfer of the Central aid, all farmers have to submit the bank account-linked Aadhaar number, officials said. To make the transfer of money less cumbersome and to ensure it reaches the farmers, the Centre has asked the states to keep documents with themselves. The state governments will also carry out the verification process.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the programme will run on a centralised software platform with real-time monitoring.
The government will rely on a management information system platform, a software that will connect states, banks and farmer beneficiaries.
Farmers’ registration forms will be available online. The “responsibility of identifying the landholder farmer family eligible for benefits will lie with states”.
The cash will be transferred by the Centre to beneficiaries electronically through the “State Notional Account”, a mechanism similar to the one being used for paying beneficiaries of MGNREGA, which offers 100 days of manual work a year to at least one member of every poor rural household.
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