New Delhi - In a bid to woo the farming population before the general elections, finance minister Piyush Goyal announced a Rs 6,000 per year cash support to small and marginal farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).
Under the scheme, Rs 6,000 will be directly transferred into the bank accounts of farmers holding cultivable land up to 2 hectares in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each starting from December 2018. The programme will cost the government Rs 75,000 crore annually and benefit 12 crore small and marginal farmers.
While announcing the programme in Interim Budget 2019, finance minister Piyush Goyal said the PM-KISAN programme would pave a way for farmers to earn a respectable living and also relive them from the clutches of money lenders.
He said Rs 20,000 crore would be provided from financial year 2018-19 to support the programme.