Revise PM-KISAN ryots’ list, Niranjan to Centre

Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy on Thursday urged the Central government to revise the list of farmers benefiting from PM-KISAN by allowing more to register under the scheme.
Only 35.74 lakh farmers have been benefiting under the PM-KISAN scheme against 66 lakh farmers under the Rythu Bandhu scheme in Telangana, the Minister pointed out.

In a statement, he said that the list of farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme has not been revised since February 1, 2019, and thus, new farmers have been denied the opportunity to enjoy its benefits. While the Centre provides financial support of Rs 6,000 per acre yearly to only 35.74 lakh farmers, the State government has been extending financial support of Rs 10,000 per acre per annum to around 66 lakh farmers.

As against the over Rs 15,000 crore being spent by the State government every year on Rythu Bandhu and another Rs 1,500 crore on Rythu Bima, the Centre provides only Rs 2,200 crore under PM-KISAN, he said. Tax payers, pensioners with income above Rs 10,000, government employees and pensioners-cum- professionals are not eligible to obtain benefits under PM-KISAN.

“The BJP leaders, who have been accusing the State government of being an anti-farmer, should first question the Central government on the injustice being meted out to Telangana by financial support to farmers,” Niranjan Reddy said.

Considering the rising input costs, he emphasised the need to extend the PM-KISAN benefits to maximum number of farmers.