Actual farmers not getting any benefits, says Madras High Court
Context: Madras High Court Issues notice to Centre, Tamil Nadu on PM Kisan Scheme scam
- The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court took a serious view of the PM Kisan Scheme scam, in which money was fraudulently credited to thousands of ineligible people.
- The court put forth a series of questions for both the Centre and the State and observed that the benefits were not reaching actual farmers.
- Agriculturalists had become orphans and in spite of various schemes floated for their benefit, they were not empowered.
- Agriculture sector was the only sector where the producer had no say in fixing the price of the produce.
- The court asked the Centre and the State to submit the number and the names of schemes floated for the benefit of farmers in the last 10 years and whether the benefits were reaching the farmers.
- It also sought to know how much the governments had spent on such schemes including the PM Kisan scheme, how much was the subsidy under each scheme and if there were any mechanism to monitor the intended reach of the schemes.
- It asked whether the malpractices committed were detected and cases filed against corrupt officials.
- Further, with regard to the PM Kisan Scheme scam, the court asked what the actual position was now and how many cases were registered against those involved in the scam.
- The court was hearing a PIL petition filed by A. Sivaperumal from Nallamanarkottai in Dindigul district, who complained that ineligible people were enrolled under the scheme.
About the PM Kisan Scheme
- The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-Kisan Yojana) is a government scheme through which, all small and marginal farmers will get up to Rs 6,000 per year as minimum income support.
- This 75,000-crore scheme aims to cover 125 million farmers, irrespective of the size of their landholding in India.
When did the PM-Kisan scheme come into effect?
- The PM Kisan Yojana came into effect from December 1, 2018. It was launched by prime minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Provisions
- Under the PM Kisan Yojana, income support of Rs 6000 per annum is provided to all eligible farmer families across the country in three equal installments of Rs 2,000 each every four months.
- The scheme defines family as husband, wife and minor children. The fund of Rs 2,000 is directly transferred to the bank accounts of the farmers/farmer's family.
Who is eligible for PM Kisan scheme?
- Landholding farmers’ families with cultivable landholding in their names can apply under this scheme
- Farmers from both the urban and rural areas
- Small and marginal farmers families
Who is not eligible for PM Kisan scheme?
- Institutional landholders
- Present or retired officers and employees of state/central government as well as PSUs and government autonomous bodies.
- Beneficiaries with higher economic status are not eligible.
- Those who pay income tax
- Farmer families holding constitutional posts
- Professionals like doctors, engineers and lawyers
- Retired pensioners with a monthly pension of over Rs 10,000
- How to register for PM Kisan Samman Nidhi
- Farmers have to approach the local revenue officer (patwari) or a nodal officer (nominated by the state government)
- The Common Service Centres (CSCs) have also been authorized to do the registration of the farmers for the Scheme upon payment of fees
Farmers Corner
- Farmers can register themselves through the Farmers Corner in the portal. They can also edit the name in PM-Kisan database and know the status of their payment.
Documents required to register under PM-Kisan Yojana
- Aadhaar is mandatory.
- Apart from Aadhaar, citizenship certificate, landholding papers and bank account details have to be submitted to the concerned authorities.
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