15 June 2024, New Delhi: Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan in a press conference informed about the release of the 17th installment of about Rs 20,000crore under PM-KISAN by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
PM Modi will be visiting Varanasi on 18th June 2024, for the release of the 17th installment of the PM KISAN scheme to the farmers and granting certificates to more than 30,000 self-help groups such as Krishi Sakhis. The event will be organized by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in coordination with the Govt. of Uttar Pradesh.
Addressing the press conference Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Farmers have been the top priority of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and he signed the 17th installment of Kisan Samman Nidhi to be released to the farmers. More than Rs 20,000 crores will be disbursed to over 9.26 crore beneficiary farmers from Varanasi.
The Government of India 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.
Union Ministers will also be visiting 50 KVKs to interact with the farmers and create awareness amongst them about the various schemes of the Department. He said that around 2.5 Cr. Farmers will join the event across the country.732 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), Over 1.0 lakh Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies, and 5.0 Lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs) from across the country will also participate in the event to create awareness amongst the farmers.
The Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister said that the Prime Minister has resolved to make three crore Lakhpati Didis, out of which about one crore Lakhpati Didis have already been made, and 2crore more are to be made. Krishi Sakhi is one dimension of that.
Chouhan said that to help the farmers, many sisters have been trained so that they can support the farmers through different works in farming and can earn an additional income of about 60-80thousand rupees annually. The Union Minister said that along with the program of releasing the installment of PM KisanPrime Minister Modi will also grant Certificates to more than 30,000 Self Help Groups (SHGs) as Krishi Sakhis and as a token Hon’ble PM will distribute the certificates to 5 Krishi Sakhis. The Krishi Sakhi program has been rolled out in 12 States in Phase – 1: Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Meghalaya. As of 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.
