PM Modi To Release Rs 20,000 Crore For Farmers In Varanasi On 18 June, Taking PM-KISAN Disbursements To Over Rs 3.24 Lakh Crore

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the seventeenth instalment of about Rs 20,000 crore under PM-KISAN on 18 June during a visit to Varanasi.

This will be PM Modi's first visit to Varanasi, his Parliamentary constituency, after assuming office for a consecutive third term.

PM Modi will also disburse certificates to more than 30,000 members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) who have been trained as 'Krishi Sakhis' to work as para-extension workers, supporting fellow farmers with agricultural practices.

The event will be organised by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in coordination with the Uttar Pradesh government. 

Addressing a press conference, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that in his first programme after becoming the Prime Minister for the third time, the highly anticipated 17th instalment of PM KISAN, amounting to more than Rs 20,000 crore, will be disbursed to over 9.26 crore beneficiary farmers by PM Modi with a single click of a button from Varanasi.

PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is a central sector scheme launched on 24 February 2019 to supplement the financial needs of all land-holding farmers subject to certain exclusion criteria of higher income status. 

Under the scheme, financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments, every four months, is transferred into the bank accounts of farmers’ families across the country through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode. 

Chouhan said that maintaining absolute transparency in registering and verifying beneficiaries, the Government has disbursed over Rs 3.04 lakh crores till now to more than 11 crore farmers across the nation and with this release, the total amount transferred to the beneficiaries since the inception of the scheme will cross well over Rs 3.24 lakh crores.

The Agriculture Minister said that along with the program of releasing the instalment of PM Kisan, Prime Minister Modi will also grant certificates to more than 30,000 Self Help Groups (SHGs) as Krishi Sakhis and as a token PM Modi will distribute the certificates to 5 Krishi Sakhis. 

The Krishi Sakhi programme has been rolled out in phase one in 12 states : Gujarat, Tanil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Meghalaya.

As on date, over 34,000 Krishi Sakhis out of 70,000 have been certified as para-extension workers.

Chouhan said that Krishi Sakhis are chosen as agriculture para-extension workers because they are trusted community resource persons and experienced farmers themselves.

The Krishi Sakhis have already received extensive training in various agricultural practices, making them well-equipped to support and guide fellow farmers effectively. 

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