Prime Minister
Narendra Modi released the 15th instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) of ₹18,000 crore on Wednesday, November 15. This instalment, amounting to direct benefit transfers, will benefit over eight crore recipients. The PM-KISAN initiative has already disbursed over ₹2.62 lakh crore across 14 instalments into farmers' accounts.
Notably, this fund release coincides with the upcoming voting for the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls and phase two of Chhattisgarh. The Centre reports that, as of July this year, the scheme has registered 83,70,263 beneficiaries from Madhya Pradesh, 63,98,381 farmers from Rajasthan, 21,70,541 from Chhattisgarh, 31,15,499 beneficiaries from Telangana, and 92,520 individuals.
Additionally, Prime Minister Modi
inaugurated a ₹24,000 crore scheme, the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, designed for the welfare of tribals. The launch coincided with the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda in Jharkhand.
Critics, including the Congress, have raised concerns about the timing of the 15th PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi instalment, just two days before assembly elections in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Jairam Ramesh, Congress General Secretary in charge of communications, questioned the apparent synchronicity, asking whether this delay was intentional.
(Edited by : Akanksha Upadhyay)
First Published: Nov 15, 2023 10:13 AM IST