10 lakh farmers to benefit from Central scheme

Vishal Joshi
Tribune News Service
Kurukshetra, February 12

About 10 lakh small and marginal families of farmers holding up to five acres in the state may soon start getting the first instalment of Rs 2,000 of Rs 6,000 under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme. The enumeration process for the scheme that started on Monday would highlight the exact data of the beneficiaries. 

Official sources said that according to the census 2011 data, there were 16.17 lakh farmers’’ families in the state. A rough estimate says nearly nine to 10 lakh farmers have less than two hectares of cultivable farmland. Pradeep Meel, Deputy Director, Agriculture, said that teams of officials from the departments of agriculture, panchayati raj and revenue had been involved in gathering information about the eligible farmers. He added that the youth enrolled under the Saksham Yuva scheme had also been engaged for the exercise. February 25 is the deadline for the registration of farmers.

Meel said the first installment of Rs 2,000 for the period from December 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019, is scheduled to be disbursed by February-end. “For this purpose, the Aadhaar card number and the bank account details of the beneficiaries will be collected. For the transfer of the assistance, district-wise lists of the beneficiaries will be certified and uploaded by the state on the PM-Kisan Portal of the Union Government and the funds will be electronically transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries,” he added.

The sources said those persons whose names appear in the land records as on February 1, 2019, would be eligible for the scheme. According to the guidelines, a small and marginal landholder farmer’’s family is defined as “A family comprising the husband, wife and minor children (up to 18 years of age) who collectively own cultivable land up to two hectares, as per the land records of the states.”

Families with income taxpayers, serving or retired government employees are not eligible for the scheme.

Feb 25 is the last date of registration 

• Aadhaar number and bank account details needed for registration
• The first instalment of Rs 2,000 for December 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019, period to be disbursed by  February-end.