Big demand for PM 'kisan nidhi'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: 'Farmers' continued to line up before Krishi Bhavans across Kerala with Aadhaar cards, land tax receipts, ration cards and bank passbooks to enroll themselves with the PM-  Kisan Samman Nidhi that assures each farmer a direct cash transfer of Rs 6,000 every year.

Agriculture director Dr P.K. Jayasree told DC that 73,970 farmers out of a total 8.62 lakh applicants have become eligible, after the second validation, for the Central dole-out as on Friday evening. Another 98,000 applications have completed the first level validation. Rejections have been on account of technical mismatch on records. The dynamic enrollment process would continue up to March 31.

The nidhi is the most ambitious, though fag-end, scheme of the NDA, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches at the farmers national convention in Gorakhpur on Sunday and it is being touted as the answer to the long-pending demand of the farming community, stressed by unremunerative prices, for subsistence level support by the Government.

Nearly 12 crore farmers across the country would benefit by scheme; Rs 25,000 crore would be transferred to bank accounts of farmers by Mr Modi on Sunday.
But complaints have arisen that many unintended beneficiaries have crept into the list for want of an effective system targeting real farmers in Kerala.

But the way it is sought to be implemented in Kerala lends the impression of an omnibus poverty alleviation scheme. Which it is not.

The Centre has instructed States to ensure transparency in the implementation. Its circular says:

"The verification and validation of beneficiaries list under PM Kisan is the responsibility of the State Government. The state nodal officers have to be satisfied about the eligibility of the beneficiaries as per the operational guidelines of the schedule, including their landholding and exclusion clause.

There is no question of exemption at our level from any process of verification t0 be undertaken by the State authorities. It is advised that suitable process may be adopted at the state/district level to verify accurately their eligibility conditions and after doing that their list may be uploaded on the PM-Kisan portal".

Then main lacuna in the scheme as it is being implemented in Kerala is the absence of a minimum land ceiling. Anyone (barring excluded categories) holding up to 5 acres can apply for the Nidhi.

There are even help desks set by BJP cadre outside Krishi Bhavans to fill up the application, charging Rs 50 for filling up a form.

However, the picture that emerges is of overworked agriculture staff and village offices struggling to issue land tax receipts at a time when they should be busy with implementing State schemes before the end of the current fiscal.