PANAJI
Due to the conditions that apply for being eligible for receiving Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sanman Nidhi, around 12,000 farmers in Goa have been deprived from the benefits of this scheme for the last five years.
Those who are registered as farmers in the government records, appropriate KYC and name included on the 1/14 form are the three conditions that make a farmer eligible as a beneficiary under the scheme. Around 12,000 farmers in Goa could not comply with these conditions and hence could not avail the benefits of this scheme.
The Central government had initiated Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sanman Nidhi Yojana in 2018 to financially support the small farmers (alpa bhu-dharak) who owned very little agricultural land.
Those who were eligible to receive the benefits under this scheme receive Rs 6,000 in three installments in a year, as financial support aid.
However, the State has many pending cases of Kul-Mundkar issue, which has deprived many of the farmers from receiving the financial support. Many of the farmers are into agriculture but the land which they till, is not in their name. As they are not mentioned on the1/14 form, there is no documental support that they are farmers. Hence, though they cultivate the land, they have not received benefits under the scheme, according to a source in the Directorate of Agriculture.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had sent a letter to Union Agricultural Minister Narendra Singh Tomar asking to resolve the issue and let those 12,000 farmers who are not availing any benefit till now, start getting it.
An official at the Directorate of Agriculture expressed hope that since a letter has already been sent to the Union Minister intimating about the issue in Goa, this year the farmers in the State may start getting the benefit.
