PM KISAN SCHEME (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Govt Scheme)

Context: Every fourth beneficiary added under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme over the past two months is a woman, according to the data available with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

Key Points

• Gender Distribution: As per the data, a total of 40,50,375 beneficiaries were added during this period, with 10,61,278 being women, 29,87,884 men, and 1,213 others.
• Beneficiaries under PM-Kisan: Uttar Pradesh leads with 1.69 lakh additions, followed by Rajasthan, Manipur, Jharkhand, and Kerala.
• States Where New Beneficiaries: Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram show a higher percentage of women beneficiaries. Meghalaya tops with 68.96%, followed by Manipur (56.57%), Nagaland (54.97%), and Mizoram (50.26%).
• Regional Disparities: Meghalaya recorded the highest at 70.33%, followed by Nagaland (55.84%), Arunachal Pradesh (52.63%), and Manipur (51.85%). Punjab reported the lowest proportion at 0.26% women beneficiaries.

PM-KISAN Scheme

• About: This Scheme is a Central Sector Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Scheme. 
• Launch: February 2019 (made effective from December 2018) to give income support to farmers.
• Funding: 100% funding of rupee 6000 in 3 installments.
• Implemented by: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare.
• Purpose: The scheme is meant to provide income support to all landholding farmer’s families across the country and enable them to meet expenses related to agriculture as well as domestic needs.
• Beneficiaries: Farmer families rest with the State / UT Governments.