New Delhi, Jan 31 () The government has provided over Rs 43,000 crore to more than 8 crore farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme and will spend Rs 25 lakh crore in coming years to boost the rural economy, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Friday.
 Addressing the joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament, he said: "Bringing about a change in the lives of farmers, who serve the country selflessly, and development of rural areas are the priorities of my government."
 The government is "going to spend an amount of Rs 25 lakh crore" in the coming years to strengthen the rural economy and is working on a strategy to develop an income-centric system aimed at doubling the income of farmers, he added.
 "Under the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), more than Rs 43,000 crore has been deposited in the bank accounts of more than eight crore farmer families. On January 2, my government has created a record by transferring Rs 12,000 crore to the bank accounts of six crore farmers simultaneously," Kovind said.
 Through the Rs 87,000 crore PM-KISAN scheme, the government is providing Rs 6,000 per year to farmers in three equal instalments. The ambitious programme, which was launched in the interim Budget last year, aims to cover 14.5 crore farmers.
 That aside, Kovind said the government is steadily increasing the minimum support price (MSP) for Kharif and Rabi crops as part of its decision to fix the MSP at least one and a half times the input cost. He highlighted that the procurement of pulses and oilseeds has increased by more than 20 times.
 The President said the central government, along with states, is working to provide relief to farmers from natural calamities.
 Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, he pointed out that on an average, every year more than 5.5 crore farmers are availing crop insurance cover at a very low premium. Farmers' claims worth Rs 57,000 crore have been settled in the last three years.
 Kovind said the impact of e-NAM, the online national market for farmers, has also started to become visible. As many as 1.65 crore farmers and about 1.25 lakh traders have been linked to it, while trade worth Rs 90,000 crore has been transacted.
 "In order to further enhance the effectiveness of e-NAM in this decade, work is underway to link more than 400 new mandis with it," Kovind said. Under this platform, 540 mandis are already linked.
 The President said the government is promoting alternative farming practices such as organic farming. Honey output has increased by about 60 per cent while its exports more than doubled.
 Kovind said the twin objectives of doubling the fishermen's income and fish production are sought to be achieved through the newly created the Department of Fisheries.
 "A massive drive is being organised with the aim of ensuring the health of more than 50 crore livestock of the country. Under the National Animal Disease Control Programme, an amount of Rs 13,000 crore is being spent on immunisation and other measures to protect the cattle from foot and mouth disease," Kovind said. MJH MJH ANS
ANS

Govt to spend Rs 25 lakh cr to boost rural economy; over Rs 43K cr disbursed under PM-KISAN scheme

New Delhi, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare <keyword id="363191" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kailash-Chaudhary">Kailash Chaudhary</keyword> said that the farmers will be paid within three days of their crops purchased by the <keyword id="26362" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Government">government</keyword>. He has also asked the states to make proper arrangements for procurement. The government procurement of wheat in many states, including <keyword id="6355554" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Madhya-Pradesh">Madhya Pradesh</keyword> and Punjab, has started from Wednesday despite a nationwide lockdown. Haryana has announced to start purchasing mustard first and then wheat from April 20. Chaudhary told IANS that during the period of <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> crisis, the Central government stands with the farmers and many decisions have been taken in their interest. He said earlier there used to be a delay of a month in making the payment to the farmers from the time of purchase of the crops, but now they will get the price of their produce within just three days and in this regard the state governments have been asked to send reports soon. Chaudhary said: "The Prime Minister has said that no work of farmers will be stopped and they are allowed to continue with their work." He said that in order to carry out the procurement of Rabi crops smoothly, the government asked the states to make necessary arrangements for the same at the panchayat level and the agency from whom they would like to make the purchase. But they will have to follow the instructions regarding social distancing because it is necessary to stop the transmission of COVID-19. Relaxing the rules of procurement, the central government has increased the daily limit for the purchase of gram and mustard from 25 quintal to 40 quintal. He said the government is worried about the farmers, hence, they are being provided with the benefits of schemes made for them. He said that the amount under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme is being directly transferred in the accounts of beneficiaries. The beneficiaries of Modi government's ambitious scheme PM-KISAN get the scheme amount of Rs 6,000 annually in their respected bank accounts equally in every three months. During the lockdown, about Rs 16,621 crore have been transferred to the bank accounts of about 8.31 crore farmers under the PM-KISAN so far. During the lockdown, the <keyword id="107414" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ministry-of-agriculture">Ministry of Agriculture</keyword> has continued to do its work and Chaudhary said he is also attending office. regularly. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/topic/coronavirus">Coronavirus News and Updates</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/how-to-check-coronavirus-symptoms-at-home/articleshow/74960334.cms">What are the Coronavirus symptoms and how to check for them at home</a>

Government will pay farmers within 3 days of purchasing their crop

Itanagar, Feb 25 () Arunachal Pradesh Governor Brig (Retd) Dr B D Mishra on Thursday called upon the MLAs to shoulder responsibility to design plans, enact and adopt provisions so that the state not only mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic but also emerge with strong socio-economic and health achievements. Addressing the first day of the 12-day Budget session, he said the current session would remain guided by six key result areas underscored by the union budget which includes, health and well-being, physical and financial capital and infrastructure, inclusive development for aspirational India, reinvigorating human capital, innovation and research and development and minimum government and maximum governance. "Our policies should be for strengthening the philosophy of 'Nation first'. Our focus should be for doubling farmer's income, healthy India, good governance, opportunities for youths, education for all, women empowerment and inclusive development," Mishra said in his 50-minute speech. "We are shifting our stance from expenditure-oriented budgeting to outcome-oriented budgeting. We are dovetailing all central schemes for the benefit of the people of the state," the governor added. He said, the government is bringing in professionalism in the system by upgrading the skills of government workforce thereby improving absorption capacity and increasing the state's resource base. "This will bring about the decrease in our dependence on Central funding. We are determined to put in place, the conducive policies for ease of working of central government agencies such as power sector companies, Border Roads Organization, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) etc," he said. Mishra said the state government is fully poised to utilize all available resources for the overall socio-economic development of the state and the people. He said the state government had gone all out to change the COVID-19 challenge into an opportunity to accelerate the pace of development in the state in the past one year. "It is you, in true 'joy sharing' spirit of Arunachali ethos who helped convert the MLA apartments here into a dedicated Covid hospital. This hospital provided valuable clinical services to hundreds of patients and saved many precious lives," he said, adding the government expressed appreciation to you for foregoing your salary and providing one instalment of the MLA Local Area Development Fund to fight the pandemic. He said, the government has set forth its vision to bring equitable and sustainable development in the state and is working hard to achieve excellence in governance, quality education, better health services, progressive changes in agriculture and allied sectors, employment generation, livelihood activities, ease of doing business, drinking water to all, among others. "The government is also focusing on providing uninterrupted power supply, good connectivity and communication, promoting tourism, establishing inter-tribe harmony, maintenance of law and order, social partnership, conserving ecological balance and preserving the rich culture and heritage of the tribal societies," Mishra added. The governor informed that the government had provided an assistance of Rs 1,000 per BPL family covering 1.77 lakh families which helped them during the 'Lock Down' days. More than 65,000 families received free LPG cylinder under the Ujjwala scheme. Under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, the government provided Rs 2,000 to 62,000 farmer families besides additional Rs 1,000 to 68,000 farmer families, he said, adding, an estimated 1.48 lakh women Jan-Dhan account holders received Rs 1,500 in their account from the government and around 42,000 divyangs, widows and senior citizens received Rs 1,000 in their account. "Scholarships were provided to 20,162 students and 17,918 students were provided with stipend. Our government provided Rs 3,500 each to more than 17,000 Arunachalees who were stranded outside our state during the lockdown period," Mishra said. The government has initiated major steps to strengthen the health infrastructure and taken up a massive Rs 400 crore project to upgrade the health infrastructure in the district hospitals, he said. "Giving thrust to Prime Minister Narendra Modis 'Heath for all Mission', the government has till date, converted 66 Primary Health Care Centres and 140 Sub Centres as Health and Wellness Centres. In the coming year, the government is committed to convert all our Primary Health care facilities to Health and Wellness Centres," he said. Referring to the education sector, the governor said that despite huge territorial dispersions and majority of schools being located in the interiors, the government under the Arunachal Pradesh Teachers Transfer and Posting Policy 2020, is putting in all effort to rationalize and provide teachers wherever needed. "My government has taken a series of initiatives to strengthen the infrastructure of school education. During the next two years we will be operationalising five new Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) - one each in Leparada, Tirap, Lower Dibang Valley, Kurung Kumey and Lohit districts. Another five schools will come up in 3 to 4 years in Itanagar, Naharlagun, Khonsa, East Kameng and West Siang," he said. Eight model residential schools under Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) with a total outlay of 284 crore will also come up in next 3 years in West Kameng, Kra Daadi, Tawang, Lower Dibang Valley, Lower Subansiri, Upper Siang, Kurung Kumey and Pakke Kessang districts, Mishra said. UPL RG RG

Governor addresses Budget session of Arunachal Pradesh Assembly

Jalna, Sep 6 () Four people were arrested in Jalna in Maharashtra for allegedly carting away the cash safe of a bank containing Rs 7.73 lakh, a Crime Branch official said on Sunday. The incident took place on Friday morning in the district cooperative bank in Ghanswangi and the money was part of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sanman Nidhi Yojana disbursements, said Crime Branch official Rajendra Singh Gour. "The robbers entered the bank and took away the cash safe in a tempo after they failed to break it. We first held main accused Hardeep Singh Bablu Singh Tak (29), who then named four accomplices, three of whom were arrested on Saturday," Gour said. He said Rs 1.44 lakh of the loot has been recovered. COR BNM BNM

Maha: 4 held for looting Rs 7.73 lakh from bank in Jalna

Guwahati, May 15 () Assam has been losing around Rs1,000 crore every day because of the COVID-19 inducedlockdown, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday said,quoting a survey by the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII).Migrant workers returning to Assam will be trained todevelop their skills and absorbed in the state, the chiefminister said.Terming the Rs 20 lakh crore special financial packageannounced by the Centre a "game-changer", he said around 24lakh people in over one lakh micro, small and mediumenterprises (MSME) in the state will immensely benefit fromit."This package will change the current economicscenario of the country towards growth. The Centre and statesare facing huge problems due to the halt in economicactivities on account of the lockdown," he said.Asked about the losses Assam has incurred since thelockdown was announced in late March, Sonowal said the statehas not calculated any estimate as of now on this aspect. "The CII did a survey and they told us that Assam lostRs 1,000 crore daily. We are going by their survey as they areexperts in such studies," he added.On the Central package, the chief minister said thestate government will devise a road map to utilise the fundsfor the MSME units in consultation with all the stakeholders,including the owners and industry bodies."In Assam, 99.9 per cent of the industries are MSMEunits, which contribute 39 per cent of the state's GDP. Thepackage announced by the Union Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman will benefit Assam tremendously," he added.The Central government on Wednesday announced a Rs5.94 lakh crore package, including Rs 3 lakh crore ofcollateral-free automatic loans to boost MSMEs.Sonowal also expressed happiness that around 2,000sick units of the state will be benefitted from the fundannounced for stressed units by the Centre as part of thepackage.A subordinate debt of Rs 20,000 crore for stressedunits, a Fund of Funds for equity infusion of Rs 50,000 crore,and revision in the definition of MSMEs are among the stepsannounced by the government to help MSMEs recover fromdisruptions caused by the coronavirus-related lockdown.Sonowal said the state has urged the Centre to declareAssam as an investment destination for the foreign companieswilling to come and invest in India after the coronavirussituation eases.Asked about the migrant labourers returning to Assamfrom different parts of the country, he said the stateconsiders them as assets, and not liabilities."They are a skilled force and we will absorb them. Ihave already instructed the industry minister to imparttraining for additional skills to them. The Economic AdvisoryCommittee formed to frame guidelines will also consider thisaspect," Sonowal said.He said around 6.5 lakh people have registered so farin the helpline for the stranded people, but the exact numberof migrant workers is not known immediately. On alleged corruption in selecting beneficiaries underthe Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme,Sonowal said an inquiry has been initiated and all the guiltywill be punished.The scheme provides a payment of Rs 6,000 per year inthree equal instalments of Rs 2,000 to beneficiaries. TRNN NN

Assam losing Rs 1,000 cr daily during lockdown: CM Sonowal

New Delhi, Apr 13 () Twenty-five districts across 15 states where COVID-19 infections were detected earlier have reported no new cases in the last 14 days and the credit for it goes to the proper implementation of containment strategies by the district administrations, Union Health Ministry said on Monday.Addressing a press briefing here, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said 796 new COVID-19 cases and 35 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 9,152 and deaths to 308. "The implementation of the action plan has started yielding appreciable results in 25 districts across 15 states which reported cases earlier. These districts have no case reported since the last 14 days and constant vigil is being maintained to ensure that no new cases may occur in future," he said.The districts are Gondia (Maharashtra), Raj Nand Gaon (Chhattisgarh), Davangiri (Karnataka), South Goa, Wayanad and Kottayam (Kerala), West Imphal (Manipur), Rajouri (J&amp;K), Aizwal West (Mizoram), Mahe in Puducherry, SBS Nagar in Punjab, Patna, Nalanda and Munger in Bihar, Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, Panipat, Rohtak and Sirsa in Haryana, Pauri Garhwal in Uttrakhand and Bhadradari Kothagudem in Telangana. Commenting over a recently published study which stated that administration of antiviral drug Remdesivir may reduce risk of death in critically ill coronavirus patients, Head of Epidemiology and Communicable diseases at Indian COuncil of Medical Research, Raman R Gangakhedkar said the drug which was used against Ebola virus, may affect the reproduction of the virus. "Recently reported study on use of Remdesivir for COVID-19 treatment is not a clinical trial, but an observational study according to which two out of three patients after treatment with the drug may not need ventilator support or their need for oxygen support may reduce. "We will come to know of further developments through the WHO Solidarity Trial, which has an arm looking into this," he said.He further said Remdesivir, developed by Gilead Sciences Inc, is not presently available in the country and the government is working to see if any pharmaceutical company can manufacture it.Responding to a report of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention which stated that coronavirus can spread through shoe soles, Gangakhedkar said more evidence and research is required to conclude that. "We have to see the strength of the evidence...to say that it has been transmitted via shoe soles will need a solid evidence and I will not accept it based on one report," he said.He further informed that 2,06,212 tests for COVID-19 have been conducted so far, adding that 14,855 tests took place at 156 government labs and 1,913 tests were done at 69 private labs on Sunday. "There is no need to worry. We have enough stocks to conduct tests for upto six weeks," he said.Reacting to reports which said ICMR's nodal testing facility in Kolkata, West Bengal was not sending enough samples for COVID-19 testing, Agarwal said, "Our effort is to ensure that the guidelines and the do's and don'ts of the infectious disease management are followed."The Home Secretary and the ministry of Health communicates regularly through video conferencing with states and we tell them our containment strategies and they are working in coordination." Agarwal also said the Core Strategy Group on COVID-19 set up at CSIR labs was working on rapid and economical diagnostics as well as new drugs."Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the research efforts of COVID-19 by CSIR (Council of Scientific &amp; Industrial Research) in the presence of DG, CSIR and 38 CSIR Lab Directors. "The CSIR laboratories are working in close partnership with major private sector industries, PSUs, MSME working on digital and molecular surveillance, rapid and economical diagnostics, new drugs/repurposing of drugs and associated production processes and hospital assistive devices and PPEs among others," he said.Under State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLMs) across 27 states, 1.96 crore masks have been produced by 78,373 self-help group members, Agarwal said, adding the National Cadet Corps (NCC) volunteer cadets are helping civil administration under 'Exercise NCC Yogdaan'. As on April 10, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package, more than 30 crore poor people have received financial assistance of Rs 28,256 crore to protect them from the impact of lockdown due to COVID-19, he said. As many as 19.86 crore women account holders of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana have received Rs 9,930 crore while under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), 6.93 crore farmers have received Rs 13,855 crore.On instances of medical professionals contracting coronavirus infection, Agarwal said in majority of the cases, doctors who contracted the disease subsequently infected people associated with them during their regular infections, and were not on COVID-19 duty. There have been miniscule percentage of doctors on duty testing COVID-19 positive, he said adding that the healthcare settings should implement infection prevention and control strategies. PLB GJS TDSTDS

25 district in 15 states have not reported new COVID-19 cases in last 14 days: Health Ministry

New Delhi, Dec 5 () Raising concerns over the losses faced by farmers due to floods and unseasonal rains, non-NDA MPs on Thursday alleged that the Centre is yet to provide monetary relief to the states.
Participating in a discussion on "crop loss due to various reasons and its impact on farmers", S S Palanimanickam (DMK) demanded that there should be complete loan waiver for the farmers due to the losses faced by them. He added that fishermen should be treated on par with farmers as they too have been hit by natural calamities.
Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) said the Centre had assured compensation to the West Bengal government after Cyclone Bulbul hit the state this year. However, it has not received about money, he added.
Banerjee alleged that the Centre shows promptness in releasing money for Gujarat, a BJP-ruled state.
Vinayak Raut (Shiv Sena) said seasonal rains have hit Maharashtra badly and 34 of the 36 districts have been affected due to this.
"First unprecedent floods and then unseasonal rains have hit the farmers very hard. The natural calamity has not spared a single crop. Rice, wheat, bajra, pomegranate, cotton...all have been destroyed, " Raut said, demanding that the Centre gives immediate relief of Rs 40,000 crore.
Raut said fishermen too have been hit. The Arabian Sea has witnessed formation of five cyclones in 2019, a development recorded after 127 years.
Bhartuhari Mahtab (BJD) also said his state Odisha is yet to get relief from the Centre as two cyclones -- Foni and Bulbul -- have hit them.
He claimed that farmers through purchase of fertilisers, pesticides, tractors and other farming related equipment and accessories pay GST of Rs 15,000 crore.
"Farmers are being pauperised," Mahtab said.
Kaulshendra Kumar of JDU, an NDA ally, said the government is aiming to double the income of farmers by 2022, but it will not be possible by giving them Rs 2000. He was referring to the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. Under the scheme, farmers will get an income of Rs 6000 in a year in three installments. 
Fifty one members participated in the debate and it remained inconclusive. PR NAB ZMN

Non-NDA parties in LS on crop loss: Centre yet to provide monetary relief to states

New Delhi, Feb 2 () Barring fertiliser and chemicals sector, the government has provided higher budget allocation for agriculture, and its allied activities as well as to the food and food processing sector for 2020-21.
For the agriculture and farmers welfare ministry, the government has provided 30 per cent increase in the fund allocation at Rs 1,42,761.58 crore for the next fiscal as against the revised estimate of Rs 1,09,750.17 crore for the ongoing financial year, according to the budget document.
Of the total allocation, maximum of Rs 75,000 crore has been allocated for the government's flagship scheme PM-Kisan for the 2020-21 fiscal, followed by Rs 15,695 crore for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Rs 2,000 crore for Price Stabilisation Scheme (PSS).
That apart, the government has allocated Rs 600 crore for promoting farm mechanisation, Rs 500 crore each for PM-Asha scheme and setting up of 10,000 Farmers Producers Companies (FPOs), while Rs 220 crore for PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (farmers pension scheme) for the next fiscal.
The allocation for the ambitious PM-Kisan scheme, under which Rs 6,000 is given in three equal instalments to each beneficiary farmer annually, has been kept at Rs 75,000 crore for the 2020-21 fiscal, higher than Rs 54,370.15 crore provided in the revised estimate for this year.
The allocation has been trimmed for the current year from the initial estimate of Rs 75,000 crore in view of implementation hurdles and lack of interest shown by some states like West Bengal.
In case of PMFBY, the government has allocated higher funds at Rs 15,695 crore for the next fiscal compared to the revised estimate of Rs 13,640.85 crore for the current fiscal.
For agriculture and research development, the government has provided Rs 8,362.58 crore budget for the 2020-21 fiscal, up from Rs 7,846.17 crore in the revised estimate.
Realising the potential of the allied farm activities like dairy can help provide supplementary income to farmers, the government has increased the allocation for animal husbandry, livestock, dairy and fishery ministry to Rs 4,114.13 crore for the next fiscal from the revised estimate of Rs 3,490 crore.
Of which, Rs 3,289 crore has been allocated for animal husbandry, livestock and dairy, while Rs 825 crore for promoting fishery sector in the next fiscal.
For the food processing ministry, the government has increased allocation to Rs 1,232.94 crore for the next fiscal from the revised estimate of Rs 1,042.79 crore.
For the food and consumer affairs ministry, the allocation has been increased by six per cent to Rs 1,15,569.68 crore for the next fiscal from the revised estimate of Rs 1,08,688.35 crore.
However, for the fertiliser and chemicals ministry, the budget allocation has been reduced to Rs 71,563.34 crore for the next fiscal from the revised estimate of Rs 80,405.18 crore. LUX BAL

Govt provides 30 pc higher Budget allocation for agriculture

<ul><li><keyword id="6354561" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ram-nath-kovind">Ram Nath Kovind</keyword>, the President of India, made a significant announcement as he inaugurated the new Parliament session. </li><li>Government is set to invest ₹25 trillion to enhance agriculture productivity in coming years, ₹900 billion expenditure to be incurred annually in PMKSN. </li><li>The announcement has come just a few days before the upcoming budget. </li></ul>The Indian government is planning to infuse as much as ₹25 trillion into the agriculture sector in the coming years. This was not announced by Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> or anyone from his government. It was President Ram Nath Kovind who took the lead as he inaugurated the proceedings for the new Parliament session. “ Large scale investments have been made to strengthen rural India. In order to enhance agriculture productivity, an investment of Rs. 25 lakh crore will be made in the coming years.”said President Ram Nath Kovind It is also planning to spend ₹900 billion on its flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PMKSN), Kovind said on Thursday <a href="http://pib.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1575025">addressing</a> the joint sitting of the parliament. An amount of ₹120 billion <a href="http://pib.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1575025">has already been disbursed</a> to the farmers in three months through the scheme, he added. The country is reeling under a sharp slowdown in the economy as well as a crippling water crisis, and both factors have had a more pronounced impact on the rural economy. The Modi government had set itself a goal to double farmers’ income by 2022 but <a href="https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/half-way-doubling-farmers-income-is-a-distant-dream-62983">reports</a> suggest that the progress has much left to desire. But, the President’s speech today may have be a sign for investors in India for what the upcoming budget on July 5 may have in store. “To double the income of farmers by 2022, several steps have been taken in the last 5 years. Be it the decision to increase the minimum support price (MSP), or approval for 100 percent FDI in food processing; be it completion of the irrigation projects pending for decades or extension of Crop Insurance Scheme; be it the Soil Health Card or 100% Neem coating of urea.”said President Ram Nath Kovind Kovind also prodded the government to set up a separate department for integrated development of fisheries and to create a special fund to usher in, what he called, a ‘Blue Revolution’.

Indian President just took the lead ahead of the budget to announce a ₹25 trillion fund to save rural economy

New Delhi, Nov 29 () There is no provision in government's existing policy to provide assistance to family of farmers who committed suicide, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Parshottam Rupala said in Rajya Sabha on Friday. 
 Rupala was replying to a supplementary during Question Hour in the Upper House.
 "There is no provision in the policy of the government to provide any assistance to farmers who committed suicide," Rupala said while replying to a query as to whether government has provided any relief to the kith and kin of farmers who committed suicide.
 However, he said the Agriculture Department of the government has taken up a number of programmes to improve the condition of farmers.
 He said loans to distressed farmers and to other persons, not exceeding Rs 1 lakh per borrower, indebted to non-institutional lenders is an eligible category under priority sector lending as per RBI's directions. 
 Under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC), a flexible limit of Rs 10,000-50,000 has been provided to marginal farmers based on the land holding and crop grown for post-harvest storage related credit needs, he said.
 RBI has also issued directions for relief measures to be provided by respective lending institutions in areas affected by natural calamities.
 Besides, the government has also introduced an interest subvention scheme for short-term crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh, he added.
 The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidi scheme has been started to provide income support to farmers' families holding cultivable land to enable them to take care of expenses related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs so as to protect them from debt trap.
 Under the scheme, a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year is provided in three four-monthly instalments of Rs 2,000 to farmers' families.
 Agriculture credit targets have also been enhanced from Rs 9 lakh crore in 2016-17 to Rs 13.5 lakh crore in 2019-20.
 In reply to another supplementary, he said there is a provision to provide 100 subsidies to state governments for a 200 tonne unit to promote organic farming.
 Besides, there is a provision of 25 per cent assistance for loans up to Rs 40 lakh to entrepreneurs for organic fertiliser facility and Rs 50,000 a year for farmers interested in it, he said.
 He also appealed to the Members of Parliament (MPs) to ensure KCCs to farmers through banks in their respective areas.
 The use of fertilisers is increasing in the country, but the government is trying to create awareness in this direction, he said.
 The Minister said the total consumption of major fertilisers in 2019-20 (up to October) was at 349 LMT (lakh metric tonnes) and added that the government has been promoting soil test based integrated nutrient management for balanced and judicious use of fertilisers. NAM DV RVK

You Searched For "the pradhan mantri kisan samman nidhi" and got 11 results