Farmers Urge Government to Increase PM Kisan Amount & Provide DBT for Fertilizer Subsidy

Farmers groups on Tuesday (22 November) proposed several measures including increasing financial assistance to farmers under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, DBT for fertilizer subsidy, and a policy to forbid the import of agricultural commodities where landed costs are less than the minimum support price announced by the government.

During the pre-Budget consultations organized by the finance ministry with the experts in agriculture and agro-food processing industry, farmers requested Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to examine all government schemes by the beneficiaries for ensuring the optimum delivery of funds.

Mohini Mohan Singh, general secretary, of Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, told media that “The financial assistance given to farmers under PM Kisan Yojana should be increased given the hike in prices of agricultural inputs in recent years.”

She added that the best way to give support to all cultivators without any difference is by adopting a direct benefit system of transfer of funds, including fertilizer subsidy to farmers.

Besides this, the farmers also demanded an increase in the credit limit under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme, provisions to get input credits for agricultural inputs, and adequate financial human resources allocation for Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK).

It is important to mention that under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, the government transfers Rs 6,000 annually to 100 million farmers’ bank accounts in 3 equal installments.

So far, the government has released 12 installments under the scheme and the last one was paid on 17 October 2022. Now the farmers are eagerly waiting for the 13^th installment of PM Kisan, which will be released between December to March.

PM Kisan 13^th Installment Update

Last year the money was transferred to beneficiaries on 1^st January. So, it is quite possible that this time too the beneficiaries will get the financial assistance in the first week of January.

On Monday, the Central government told media that the number of beneficiaries under the scheme has crossed ten crore – which was three times more than in 2019. The statement came after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the number of beneficiaries has dropped with every instalment.