Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi shall launch 10,000 Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) across the country at Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh, on February 29, 2020.
Nearly 86% of farmers are small and marginal with average land holdings in the country being less than 1.1 hectare. These small, marginal and landless farmers face tremendous challenges during agriculture production phase such as for access to technology, quality seed, fertilisers and pesticides including requisite finances. They also face tremendous challenges in marketing their produce due to lack of economic strength.
FPOs help in collectivisation of such small, marginal and landless farmers to give them the collective strength to deal with such issues. Members of the FPO will manage their activities together in the organisation to get better access to technology, input, finance and market for faster enhancement of their income.
The event shall also witness the completion of one year of the launch of PM-KISAN scheme. Modi Government has launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme as an income support scheme for farmers to enable them to take care of expenses related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs.
Under the scheme, benefit is provided to the eligible beneficiary to the tune of Rs 6,000 per year. It is payable in three 4-monthly instalments of Rs 2,000 each. The payment is made online directly into the bank accounts of the eligible beneficiaries under Direct Benefit Transfer mode. The scheme was launched on February 24, 2019, and has successfully completed one year of implementation. In a historic decision in its first cabinet meeting, Modi 2.0 Government has decided to extend the PM-KISAN scheme to all the farmers.
The Prime Minister shall also be launching a saturation drive for distribution of Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) to all the beneficiaries under the PM-KISAN Scheme on February29, 2020. Over 6.5 crore of the approximately 8.5 crore beneficiaries under PM-KISAN Scheme, possess Kisan Credit Cards.
The saturation drive shall ensure that the remaining about 2 crore PM-KISAN beneficiaries are also get Kisan Credit Cards. A 15- day special drive has been launched from February 12, to February 26, 2020, to provide access to concessional institutional credit to all the PM-KISAN beneficiaries wherein a simple one page form has to be filled with the basic data including bank account number, land record details, and a simple declaration that he is presently not a beneficiary of KCC from any other bank branch, according to a PIB release.
All PM-KISAN beneficiaries whose applications are received till February 26 will be called to the bank branches on February 29 for handing over the Kisan Credit Cards.