PRADHAN MANTRI KISAN MAANDHAN YOJNA (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Agriculture (Economy)

Context: The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana (PM-KMY) has marked five successful years, significantly benefiting farmers through its pension scheme. 

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojna (PM-KMY)

• Launched: September 2019
• About: It has been providing social security to all land-holding Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs) across the country.
• Type: Voluntary and contributory old-age pension scheme.
• Enrollment and Contributions: Small and marginal farmers can enroll by paying a monthly subscription to the Pension Fund. Farmers aged between 18 and 40 years need to contribute between Rs. 55 to Rs. 200 per month until they reach 60 years of age.
• Pension Disbursement: Upon turning 60, enrolled farmers receive a monthly pension of Rs. 3,000, subject to meeting the scheme's exclusion criteria. 

oThe Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) manages the pension fund, and registration is facilitated through Common Service Centres (CSCs) and State Governments.

• Eligibility Criteria: Farmers with cultivable land holdings of up to 2 hectares and listed in state/UT land records as of August 1, 2019, are eligible. As of August 6, 2024, 23.38 lakh farmers have joined the scheme.
• Regional Registration Statistics: Bihar leads with over 3.4 lakh registrations, followed by Jharkhand with over 2.5 lakh registrations.

Key Benefits Under PM-KMY

• Minimum Assured Pension: Each subscriber to the scheme is guaranteed a minimum pension of Rs. 3000 per month upon reaching the age of 60 years
• PM-KISAN Benefit: SMFs can choose to use their PM-KISAN benefits to make voluntary contributions to the scheme. For this, eligible SMFs must sign and submit an enrolment-cum-auto-debit-mandate form. 
• Equal Contribution by Government: The Central Government, through the Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, also contributes an equal amount as contributed by the eligible subscriber, to the pension Fund
• Monthly Contributions: Monthly contributions are in the range from Rs. 55 to Rs. 200, based on the farmer's age at the time of entry into the Scheme, according to the contribution chart.