Centre's 'Kisan Samman' scheme to benefit 1.5 cr Maha farmers

Nearly 1.5 crore Maharashtra farmers owning up to two hectares of land are expected to benefit from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi announced in the Union budget Friday, a senior state agriculture department official said.

Presenting the Interim Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha, Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal Friday said farmers will be provided Rs 6,000 per year in three installments under a scheme to be fully funded by the central government.

"Some 1.5 crore farmers have less than two hectares of land in the state. These farmers will get the benefit of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi which was announced in the (Union) Budget," the official said Saturday.

However, farmers' groups were not impressed.

Ajit Navale, a farmer leader and state general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha, questioned why a budgetary provision had not been made for increasing the income of farmers as well as number of purchase centres.

The AIKS had last year organised a 180-kilometre march from Nashik to Mumbai to highlight farmers' woes and agrarian distress.

Navale said farmers were disappointed as the Centre had not announced a complete loan waiver in Friday's Budget.

Navale added that the Budget had no provision for farmers from Vidarbha who owned over two hectares of non-irrigated land but were plagued by low yields.

He also alleged the Budget had ignored cultivators without farm lands.