Ahead of polls, Haryana BJP govt enrols 80% farmers in PM’s pension scheme in a week

Haryana has enrolled nearly 4 lakh beneficiaries under PM-KMY, which is almost twice the number of beneficiaries enrolled in Bihar, the second-best performing state.

Under PM-KMY, small and marginal farmers are to be given a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 after they reach 60 (representational image) | Source: Maxpixel

New Delhi: The BJP government in Haryana is going all out to woo the farming community ahead of the assembly elections due in a few weeks.

The state has enrolled over 80 per cent of farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY) within a week of it being launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ranchi. Under PM-KMY, small and marginal farmers are to be handed a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 after they attain the age of 60.

Haryana has enrolled 3,99,549 beneficiaries under PM-KMY as of 18 September, which is almost twice the number of beneficiaries enrolled in Bihar, the second-best performing state.

Bihar has enrolled 1,94,649 farmers under PM-KMY, marginally better than UP, which has enrolled 1,94,485 farmers. Jharkhand is next with 1,86,186 farmers, followed by Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh with 66,875 and 38,912 farmers respectively.

The figures were shared by Vivek Agarwal, joint secretary in the agriculture ministry and CEO of PM-Kisan, at the National Conference on Agriculture for Rabi Campaign in New Delhi Friday.

“The Haryana government has assured us that it will provide instalments of PM-KMY and PM-Kisan schemes from its own budget,” Agarwal said. While the PM-KMY was launched on 12 September, the PM-Kisan scheme was launched on 24 February. Under PM-Kisan, the Centre provides all small and marginal farmers a minimum income of ₹6,000 per annum.

Centre to enrol all beneficiaries under PM-Kisan in next 30 days

Under PM-Kisan, of the 13.32 crore beneficiaries who have been identified nationally, so far only 64 per cent, or 8.5 crore people, have been enrolled by the states.

To cut down the delay in addition of beneficiaries by the states, the agriculture ministry is opening a PM-Kisan portal where individual beneficiaries can register by themselves.

The portal will become accessible to the public from 23 September. “Individual beneficiaries can correct their names as per their Aadhaar for self-registration, along with getting a status update for their payments,” Agarwal said.

Agarwal added that the government aims to cover the remaining beneficiaries under PM-Kisan in the next 30 days. “We want to dispense at least the second instalment of PM-Kisan before the onset of the festive season in October across the country to boost rural economy.”