Context:
The Prime Minister of India released the 17th installment of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi.
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- The 17th installment of PM KISAN amounting to over ₹20,000 crores, was disbursed to over 9.26 crore beneficiary farmers across the country.
- The Prime Minister also conferred certificates to over 30,000 members of self-help groups trained as ‘Krishi Sakhis’ to work as para-extension workers.
The Krishi Sakhi program has been rolled out in 12 States in Phase – 1: Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Meghalaya. - The event was organized by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in coordination with the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
The Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan)
- It is a central sector scheme (fully funded by the Union government), launched on 24th February 2019 to supplement the financial needs of all land-holding farmers.
- Under PM-Kisan, the financial benefit of Rs 6,000/- per year in three equal installments, every four months, is transferred into the bank accounts of farmers’ families across the country through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.
- The State Government and UT administration identify the farmer families which are eligible for support as per scheme guidelines.
- The total amount transferred to the beneficiaries since the inception of the scheme will cross well over Rs 3.24 lakh crores.
- ln the beginning when the PM-Kisan Scheme was launched on 24 February 2019, its benefits were admissible only to Small & Marginal Farmers’ (S&MF) families, with combined landholding up to 2 hectares. The Scheme was later revised w.e.f. 1 .6.2019 and extended to all farmer families irrespective of the size of their landholdings.