Farmers, traders get the high table at PM Modi's first cabinet meeting

The government will extend a programme of handing Rs 6,000 a year to all 14.5 crore farmers in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet decided on Friday in its first meeting after winning elections.

The government will also launch a Rs 10,000 crore pension scheme for 5 crore farmers, said agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar as he announced measures that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had promised in its election pitch. 

In the interim budget for the 2019/20 fiscal year presented in February, Modi's last government had started the direct cash support programme for 12 crore poor and small farmers as