More than 2 crore SC and ST farmers have received financial aid under the PM-KISAN initiative: Government
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New Delhi, Dec 10 (NationPress) More than 2.04 crore farmers from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) have benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) initiative, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The 18th instalment of the program was released in October to 9.58 crore farmers, which includes 1.16 crore SC farmers, 88.34 lakh ST farmers, and 7.54 crore farmers in the 'others' group, according to the data provided by the minister.
The minister also mentioned that the government has taken various steps to facilitate smooth registration, especially for SC, ST, and OBC communities who encounter challenges regarding land ownership documentation.
In response to another inquiry, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Ram Nath Thakur stated that over Rs 3.46 lakh crore has been distributed across 18 instalments to farmers since the launch of the initiative.
To guarantee the prompt and transparent transfer of funds to farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), several technological advancements have been integrated under PM-KISAN, including links with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), UIDAI, and the Income Tax Department, he explained.
Moreover, land seeding has become mandatory along with Aadhar-based payments and e-KYC. Once farmers fulfill their necessary requirements, they receive the benefits of the scheme along with any pending instalments, he added.
To ensure the quick resolution of issues faced by farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme, the Government has established a dedicated grievance mechanism called the “Help Desk”, which allows farmers to raise their concerns. This module is integrated into the “Farmers’ Corner” of the PM-KISAN Portal, enabling the direct transfer of farmers' grievances to the Nodal Officer of the respective States/UTs.
Additionally, to assist farmers in resolving their inquiries, the AI-based Kisan eMitra Chatbot was introduced, providing immediate, precise, and clear responses to farmers' questions around the clock. Currently, it operates in 11 languages, enhancing accessibility and user-friendliness. It is available on various platforms including web and mobile. To date, over 90 lakh queries from farmers have been addressed on the portal. Farmers can also submit their grievances through the CPGRAMS Portal, he added.
