Farmers across the country will get the Narendra Modi government’s attention with the Prime Minister himself scheduled to address them during the first public meeting of Modi after he starts his third term on June 18 in Varanasi. At this time, he will enroll 30,000 women-trained farm guides and release the 17th installment of PM Kisan, a cash incentive program for farmers. Taking to the media, Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan came out with these details on Saturday.
Chauhan noted that there will be an estimated 20 million farmers from different states that will be attending the event in person or online. Sending of invitations for the occasion has been done to all the chief ministers of different states.
Further, Prime Minister Modi has directed several Union ministers to go to the farming community and bureaucrats to be physically present at least 50 Krishi Vigyan Kendras, which are district level institutions aimed at educating farmers about agriculture. The current primary agricultural cooperatives will also participate in the event; approximately 100,000 of them are expected to participate through online streaming.
Furthermore, the Union agriculture minister, who is a former four-term chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, also made a clear pitch for the agriculture sector, stating that around 55% of the population was still dependent on this sector for their livelihood. Hence, it was a focal area in the Modi government’s vision for Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Chauhan added that his ministry is currently working on developing a 100-day road map for creating improvements in the agricultural sector. “Each Ministry was requested by the Prime Minister to submit a one hundred day working plan This is the agenda and I have carefully studied it We will soon publish it officially,” he announced. On June 18, the PM-Kisan scheme will benefit over 90 million farmers as Modi “funds” ₹20,000 crore to them. When asked for defense regarding the lower number of eligible farmers, Chauhan said, “Each scheme has its protocol to be followed, people are involved in other activities/ jobs, employment or business etc., and transparency is of utmost importance in PRadhan Mantri Kisan Samman.”
In detail, under the PM-KISAN scheme, the central government transfers an amount of ₹6,000 per year directly to the bank accounts of farmers having valid fingerprint/Aadhaar-enabled biometric authentication in three installments of ₹2,000 every four months.
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