Registration for the PM Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana begins today said Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, while addressing a Press Conference in Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi .Appealing farmers across the country to join the old age pension Scheme, the Minister said that the scheme has been envisioned with an aim to improve the life of small and marginal farmers of the country. The Minister said that the operational guidelines have been shared with the States and Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal conducted a Video Conference with States in this regard to ensure proper information dissemination and speedy implementation of the Scheme.
Elucidating the salient features of Scheme, Tomar said that the scheme is voluntary and contributory for farmers in the entry age group of 18 to 40 years and a monthly pension of Rs. 3000/- will be provided to them on attaining the age of 60 years. The farmers will have to make a monthly contribution of Rs.55 to Rs.200, depending on their age of entry, in the Pension Fund till they reach the retirement date i.e. the age of 60 years. The Central Government will also make an equal contribution of the same amount in the pension fund. The spouse is also eligible to get a separate pension of Rs.3000/- upon making separate contributions to the Fund. The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) shall be the Pension Fund Manager and responsible for Pension pay out.
The Minister stated that, in case of death of the farmer before retirement date, the spouse may continue in the scheme by paying the remaining contributions till the remaining age of the deceased farmer. If the spouse does not wish to continue, the total contribution made by the farmer along with interest will be paid to the spouse. If there is no spouse, then total contribution along with interest will be paid to the nominee. If the farmer dies after the retirement date, the spouse will receive 50% of the pension as Family Pension. After the death of both the farmer and the spouse, the accumulated corpus shall be credited back to the Pension Fund. The beneficiaries may opt voluntarily to exit the Scheme after a minimum period of 5 years of regular contributions. On exit, their entire contribution shall be returned by LIC with an interest equivalent to prevailing saving bank rates.
The farmers, who are also beneficiaries of PM-Kisan Scheme, will have the option to allow their contribution debited from the benefit of that Scheme directly. In case of default in making regular contributions, the beneficiaries are allowed to regularize the contributions by paying the outstanding dues along with prescribed interest. The initial enrollment to the Scheme is being done through the Common Service Centres in various states. Later on alternative facility of enrollment through the PM-Kisan State Nodal Officers or by any other means or online enrollment will also be made available. The enrollment is free of cost. The Common Service Centres will charge Rs.30/- per enrolment which will be borne by the Government.
There will be appropriate grievance redressal mechanism of LIC, banks and the Government. An Empowered Committee of Secretaries has also been constituted for monitoring, review and amendments of the Scheme.
Tomar also said that under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi the target of 10 crore beneficiaries for this year will be achieved. The Minister added that till date, 5, 88,77,194 and 3,40,93,837 farmers’ families have availed 1st and 2nd instalments respectively under the PM-Kisan Scheme.
