Latest news with #BenefitTransfer
Hans India
2 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
MP: Guna farmers benefit from PM-KISAN scheme, say it helped them get rid of lenders
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Yojana has brought considerable change in the lives of farmers as they are getting monetary assistance under the scheme, helping them to meet any unforeseen circumstances. The assistance of Rs 6,000 per year, in three quarterly installments of Rs 2,000 each, helps them in meeting many agricultural expenses including buying fertiliser, seeds and ploughing. In Madhya Pradesh's Guna, a couple of farmers shared with IANS on how the scheme helped them tide over crisis and also eradicated the lenders from the farming sector, to a great extent. Gopal Kirar, a resident of Jhagar village in Guna said: 'PM-KISAN ended the economic woes of farmers to large extent. We use the money to buy agricultural goods.' Laxman Kirar, resident of Jhagar village echoed similar views and said that the assistance was helping them address the farming expenses. Mohar Singh Dhakad of Sujakhedi village said: 'PM-KISAN is very beneficial scheme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led govt. Small and poor farmers are getting a lot of benefit from this scheme.' 'Earlier, they had to take money from the banks to work. Through PM-KISAN, they have got rid of lenders to a large extent as they are longer needed to avail loan,' said another farmer. Jitendra Kirar said: 'The money from scheme fulfills the agricultural needs. PM Kisan is a boon for farmers with less land.' Raghuveer Dhakad thanked PM Modi-led government for addressing the needs of farming community and said that PM-KISAN was making them financially stronger. Notably, the PM KISAN scheme was launched on February 2, 2019. Over the years, it has become a transformative force for India's agricultural sector. Under this scheme, every eligible farming family receives an annual benefit of Rs 6,000. This amount is directly transferred to beneficiaries' bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism, making it one of the largest and most transparent DBT schemes globally.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Bombay High Court junks petitions challenging Maharashtra's farm procurement scheme, imposes ₹1 lakh cost
The Bombay High Court has dismissed petitions challenging a Maharashtra Government Resolution (GR) on the procurement and supply of certain agricultural items, terming them 'totally baseless'. Finding no merit in the Public Interest Litigation and a writ petition filed against GR of March 12, 2024, the court also imposed a cost of one lakh on the petitioners. The pleas were dismissed by a division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne on July 22. As per the detailed order, made available on Friday, the bench ruled that the challenge to the government's decision was 'totally baseless and deserves rejection'. The court said it did not find any error in the GR concerning the procurement of five items under a special action plan for productivity enhancement and value chain development of cotton, soybean and other oilseeds. 'Thus, no interference was warranted in the tender process implemented for procurement of the said items,' it said. The March 12, 2024, GR details the procurement and supply of five items – battery-operated sprayers, nano urea, nano DAP, metaldehyde pesticide, and cotton storage bags – to farmers. 'The said petition is filed by an association of manufacturers of sprayers, who have no locus standi to challenge the implementation of special action plan by the state government,' the bench said. The court said that to protect their private interest, manufacturers and traders cannot be permitted to challenge the broader scheme to facilitate the productivity enhancement of the listed crop. The petitioners had contended that the five items were removed from an earlier GR dated December 5, 2016, which allowed farm subsidies through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme and were included in the new GR, which provides for their procurement through state agencies. The state agencies, including Maharashtra Agro Industries Development Corporation Limited and Maharashtra State Powerloom Corporation Limited, procured these items at 'exorbitant' rates, claimed the PIL. Senior advocate, Nikhil Sakhardande, who represented the petitioners, told the court that the DBT scheme was more beneficial to farmers, allowing them to purchase items at cheaper rates from local traders. The new system favoured large contractors, he argued. Appearing for the state government, senior advocate V.R. Dhond contended that the earlier GR operated under different objectives. He stated that the March 2024 GR was aimed at enhancing productivity and value chain development of cotton, soybean and other oilseed crops, which he called a broader programme not limited to just product procurement. The HC accepted the state's arguments and said the two GRs operate in 'completely different and independent spheres' with distinct objectives. The petitioners had 'erroneously mixed up the two GRs which have no nexus with each other', it held. Further, the bench held that these 'baseless' petitions created hurdles in the effective implementation of the plan, aimed at giving impetus to the cultivation of specified crops and benefiting farmers. 'For this reason, also, while dismissing the petitions, we are inclined to impose costs (Rs 1 lakh) on the petitioners,' the court said.
