The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), in a recent report, pitched for the revision of market restrictive policies, coupled with increased financial support for farmers in India. ICRIER's report advocates an enhancement of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme instalment, which has been operational since December 2018.
It said that PM-KISAN instalment limit should be hiked to ₹10,000 per family, from the current annual transfer limit of ₹6,000. The basis for this proposed hike takes into account the eroding effect of inflation on the initial ₹6,000, which, by 2023, effectively translates to ₹8,000. Moreover, the report acknowledges the losses incurred by farmers due to restrictive marketing policies, emphasising that an annual sum of ₹10,000 is the bare minimum necessary to support the agricultural community.
Ashok Gulati, professor at ICRIER and an author of the report, emphasised that the majority of beneficiaries under the PM-KISAN scheme are small landholders, owning less than 2 hectares. While talking to CNBC-TV18.com, he said that large farmers with significant surpluses make up only a fraction of the recipients.
"Keeping the policy simple and accessible for all is crucial," he told CNBC-TV18.com.
Notably, the PM-KISAN scheme aims to provide income support to land-holding farmer families. The financial burden of this support falls entirely on the government. State governments identify eligible farmer families based on scheme guidelines, and funds are directly transferred to their bank accounts.
In a recent development, the central government reported substantial savings of ₹10,000 crore under the PM-KISAN scheme, attributed to the removal of ineligible beneficiaries after a thorough "clean up" of the database, sources earlier informed CNBC-TV18. This revelation raises the possibility of extending the scheme to include landless farmers, such as sharecroppers and tenant farmers, potentially broadening its impact.
While the savings provide room for increasing instalments, it is crucial to note that there has been no official proposal from the government regarding any changes to the scheme. Any such proposal is expected to originate from the agriculture ministry.
Furthermore, the government is anticipated to release the 15th instalment of the PM-KISAN scheme between November and December 2023, although no official announcement has been made. The 14th instalment, disbursed on July 27, 2023, reached approximately 85 million farmer beneficiaries, pushing the total amount transferred under the scheme beyond Rs. 2.59 lakh crore.
First Published: Oct 20, 2023 1:45 PM IST
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