Cash transfer, crop insurance, govt announces slew of schemes for farming community

The state government will bear the annual burden of ₹12,000 crore towards the annual cash benefit of ₹6,000 to 11.5 million farmers in the state.The government also announced crop insurance for farmers at just ₹1 instead of paying 2% of the premium under crop insurance scheme. The annual cost of the implementation is expected to be ₹3,312 crore.

Mumbai: To woo over 15 million farmers and their families that make up to over half the Maharashtra population, the Shinde-Fadnavis government announced a slew of schemes for the farming community. A major scheme named after prime minister Narendra Modi was the cash transfer of ₹6,000 per farmer in addition to the equal amount credited in the accounts of the farmers by the central government under PM-Kisan yojana.

Mumbai, India - August 08, 2022: Women plant rice saplings in their field at Aarey Colony, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, August 08, 2022. (Photo by Pratik Chorge/Hindustan Times) (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

The state government will bear the annual burden of ₹12,000 crore towards the annual cash benefit of ₹6,000 to 11.5 million farmers in the state. “The cash benefit is to support the farmers financially. The benefit can go up to ₹20,000 annually as the benefit is per person who is registered as a farmer,” said chief minister Eknath Shinde. The scheme is named as Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi.

The government also announced crop insurance for farmers at just ₹1 instead of paying 2% of the premium under crop insurance scheme. The annual cost of the implementation is expected to be ₹3,312 crore.

The two schemes are expected to create the goodwill for the government helping it in the forthcoming local body polls, especially in the rural areas.

“The direct cash benefit scheme implemented by the central government has helped Modi government in 2019 election. The similar step taken by the Shinde-Fadnavis government is with the hopes of support from the farming community in the upcoming local body polls,” said a senior BJP leader.

Farmers from 14 suicide-affected districts in central Maharashtra and Vidarbha have been getting wheat and rice at ₹2 and ₹3 a kg through public distribution system. The budget has the announcement of ₹1,800 per person per year instead of the food grains.

It has also announced to pay the loan waiver under the scheme announced by the Fadnavis government in 2017 to the farmers who were left out because of the change in the government in 2019. About 5 lakh farmers are expected to get the benefit of over ₹4,000 crore.

The state announced to bring 25 lakh hectares in the state under organic farming in next three years. The budget has also announced to establish Vidarbha-Marathwada dairy development project with the outlay of ₹160 crore. It has also announced to complete 39 out of 268 irrigation projects and 24 out of 91 projects under Baliraja Jalsanjeevani Yojana will be completed in 2023-24, announced the states in budget.

Farm expert Vijay Jawandhia said, “Instead of announcing the cash benefit or the crop insurance scheme, the government should take steps to ensure reasonable procurement price to the agri crops. The anti-farmer import-export policies of the central government have crawled the farmers as they have not been able to recover their input cost.”