BANASKANTHA, October 30 (Aalimi Nation) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the 24th instalment of the PM-KISAN income-support scheme from Banaskantha in Gujarat on Friday, with more than ₹18,000 crore going directly to the bank accounts of farmers, according to the government.
An official statement issued before the event said over 9.34 crore farmers were to receive the money through direct benefit transfer. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan joined the programme from Raisen in Madhya Pradesh, the statement said. Pre-event reports gave slightly different totals for the instalment, from about ₹18,680 crore to ₹18,690 crore.
PM-KISAN instalment and farm infrastructure
The scheme, launched in February 2019, provides eligible landholding farmer families ₹6,000 a year in three equal instalments, paid into Aadhaar-linked accounts. Officials said ₹4.47 lakh crore had been disbursed over 23 instalments before Friday's release.
At the same event, Modi was to dedicate 521 units set up under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and inaugurate 12 horticulture clusters, the agriculture ministry said. The ministry said the clusters would strengthen the value chain and encourage production and marketing of high-value crops. The fund, which backs warehouses, cold storage and primary processing centres, has so far supported about 2.28 lakh projects with investment of roughly ₹1.75 lakh crore, according to the ministry.
Addressing the gathering, Modi said: "PM Kisan Samman Nidhi has now become a part of the lives of millions of small farmers." He also said the NDA government had fulfilled its promise on minimum support price, and claimed that ₹24 lakh crore had been paid to wheat and paddy farmers as MSP over the past 12 years.
On input costs, the Prime Minister said the government had not allowed the burden of higher fertiliser prices to fall on the public despite tensions in the Gulf region.
Projects worth over ₹14,000 crore
Modi is on a two-day visit to Gujarat. He launched development projects worth more than ₹14,000 crore, including the Phase-2A (airport extension) and Phase-2B (GIFT City extension) of the Ahmedabad Metro. Earlier in the day he toured an IVF laboratory and the Bharat Breeding and Research Centre at Bhildi in Banaskantha, according to the government.
Ministry's list of farm schemes
Alongside the instalment, the agriculture ministry listed the central programmes it says have supported farmers over the past 12 years. These include the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana crop insurance scheme, the Kisan Credit Card, minimum support price operations, the Per Drop More Crop micro-irrigation component, the National Mission on Edible Oils, the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses and the National Mission on Natural Farming.
The figures cited for MSP payments are the Prime Minister's own claims and were not independently verified.
The Prime Minister urged citizens, especially young people, to take part in the Run for Unity on Saturday, held in honour of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel under the slogan "Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat". The scheme pays in three instalments a year, so the 24th payment is part of the regular cycle for eligible families.
