India / PM Modi releases ₹19,500 crore for over 9.75 crore farmers under PM-KISAN

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually transferred about ₹19,500 crore to over 9.75 crore farmers on Monday, under the government's Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme. He also interacted with the beneficiaries of the scheme via video conferencing during the event.

With the latest instalment, the government has so far transferred nine installments amounting around ₹1.57 lakh crore to farmer families under PM-KISAN. Under the scheme, an annual direct cash transfer of Rs.6,000 is provided to farmers, which is directly deposited into their registered bank accounts. The amount is paid in three equal four-monthly installments of ₹2,000 each.

Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Union ministers of State for agriculture Kailash Choudhary and Shobha Karandlaje, as well as agriculture secretary Sanjay Aggarwal were also present on the occasion. PM Modi credited farmers with working hard despite the hurdles presented by the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuring bumper production last year. “This amount will help the small farmers a lot,” he said during the interaction.

The Prime Minister also talked about ‘Mission honey bee’ and saffron production in Kashmir in his address. Tomar expressed concern over shortage of edible oils and pulses and said the government is taking measures to boost domestic production so as to reduce its reliance on imports.

The Prime Minister also talked about the role farmers are slated to play in the country’s future. “Where do we want to see India in the coming 25 years? When the country will complete 100 years of Independence what will the state of the country be? This will be decided by the farmers of this country,” he said, adding that farmers need to be given guidance and direction so they can tackle new challenges and make use of new changes.