Sikkim: 3,500 more farmers to benefit from PM-KISAN scheme

Gangtok: Over 3,500 more farmers from Sikkim will benefit from the 8th instalment of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme that was released by PM Narendra Modi on Friday, a senior official said.

The installment was released at a time when India continues to fight the second wave of COVID-19. “In these challenging times, farmers have made records in agriculture and the government is also setting new records on procurement on MSP every year,” the PM said at a virtual event.

As part of the scheme, PM Modi released over Rs 20,000 crore to about 9.5 crore farmer beneficiaries.

For the first time, farmers in West Bengal have joined the scheme and about 7 lakh Bengal farmers received their first installment on Friday.

Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Golay was also part of the video conference. Taking to social media, he said: “This is the 8th installment under the scheme and I beleive this will assist the hardworking farmers of our country, who are our backbone.”

“Our farmers have already received over Rs 6 crore. There are more than 7,000 farmers who have benefitted so far. In the 8th installment, some 3,500 farmers have already been identified,” agriculture secretary Rinzing Chewang told EastMojo.

Also read: Sikkim announces complete lockdown till May 24. See details here

Another agriculture department official Tashi Tshering Bhutia, who handles the data of farmers with regards to the Centre’s scheme, said: “Some 6,192 beneficiaries are receiving the grant currently, until the last instalment which was sixth; they are due to receive the seventh. Now, some 3,582 farmers have already been approved to receive this next instalment, the payment of which will happen this month.”

The PM-KISAN scheme, launched in February 2019, is providing Rs 6,000 in 3 installments to 14 crore farmers annually. The amount is directly transferred into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode.

Till now, over Rs 1.15 lakh crore has been transferred to farmer beneficiaries under the scheme.