Prelims 2020: Schemes in News part-2

Scheme

Concerned Ministry 

Features

About:

• The campaign was a two-month special drive (1st June-31st July 2020) where Government will provide Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to 1.5 crore dairy farmers belonging to Milk Unions and Milk producing Companies.
• It was part of the Prime Minister’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat package for Farmers.

Aim:

• It aims to provide short term credit to dairy farmers for meeting their requirements for working capital, marketing, etc.

Beneficiaries:

• Under the dairy cooperative movement, approximately 1.7 crore farmers are associated with 230 Milk Unions in the country.
• In the first phase of this campaign, the target is to cover all farmers who are members of dairy cooperative societies and associated with different Milk Unions and who do not have KCC (under KCC Scheme). 

Provisions:

• Farmers who already have KCC based on their land ownership can get their KCC credit limit enhanced, though interest subvention shall be available only to the extent of Rs 3 lakhs. 
• General limit for KCC credit without collateral remains Rs. 1.6 lakh.
• But in the case of farmers whose milk is directly procured by Milk Unions fall under tie-up arrangements between the producers and processing units without any intermediaries, and hence the credit limits without Collateral can be up to Rs.3 lakh.

Implementation:

• The DAHD in association with DFS has already circulated relevant circulars and KCC application format to all State Milk Federation and Milk Unions for implementing the same on a mission mode.

About:

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 14, 2020, announced a concessional credit of Rs 2 lakh crore to benefit 2.5 crore farmers through the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme. 
• The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme was launched by the Government of India in 1998. 
• The scheme was further extended for the investment credit requirement of farmers viz. allied and non-farm activities in the year 2004.

Objective:

To provide adequate and timely credit support from the banking system to the farmers for their cultivation and other needs as indicated below:

• To meet the short term credit requirements for cultivation of crops;
• Post-harvest expenses and Produce marketing loan;
• Consumption requirements of farmer household;
• Working capital for maintenance of farm assets and activities allied to agriculture;
• Investment credit requirement for agriculture and allied activities.

Beneficiaries:

• Small farmers, marginal farmers, sharecroppers, oral lessee and tenant farmers, Self Help Groups (SHGs) or Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) are eligible for availing benefits under the scheme.

Provisions: 

• The scheme offers Institutional Credit or Loan to Farmers to carry out agricultural activities.
• It lets farmers borrow money from banks at concessional rates in the form of loans for a period of up to 3 years.
• Limit on loan to be fixed on the basis of operational land holding, cropping pattern and scale of finance.
• Kisan Credit Cardholders can also enjoy the benefits of the National Crop Insurance Scheme & PM-KISAN.
• Card valid for 5 years subject to annual review.
• As an incentive for good performance, credit limits could be enhanced to take care of the increase in costs, change in cropping pattern, etc.
• Conversion/reschedulement of loans is also permissible in case of damage to crops due to natural calamities.
• Crop loans disbursed under KCC Scheme for notified crops are covered under Crop Insurance Scheme, to protect the interest of the farmers against loss of crop yield caused by natural calamities, pest attacks etc.

Implementation:

• It is being implemented by Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks and Cooperatives.

Significance: 

• The scheme helps the farmers in availing of the institutional credit at concessional rates.
• It reduces the dependency of farmers on the informal banking system or moneylenders.

About:

• It is a central sector scheme under the government of India Launched in February 2019, which provides income support to the farmers and their families.
• PM-KISAN scheme was first implemented as the Rythu Bandhu scheme by the Government of Telangana where a certain amount was handed directly to the eligible farmers.
• So far, over 8 crores 46 lakh farmers have been covered under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. 

Objectives:

• To provide income support to all eligible land-holding farmers and their families for taking care of expenses related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs.
• To supplement the financial needs of the farmers in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, commensurate with the anticipated farm income.

Beneficiaries:

• The Scheme initially provided income support to all Small and Marginal Farmers’ families across the country, holding cultivable land up to 2 hectares.
• Its ambit was later expanded w.e.f. 01.06.2019 to cover all farmer families in the country irrespective of the size of their landholdings.
• The entire responsibility of the identification of beneficiaries rests with the State / UT Governments.

Provisions:

• Under the Scheme, an amount of Rs.6000/- per year is transferred in three 4-monthly installments of Rs. 2000/- directly into the bank accounts of the farmers, subject to certain exclusion criteria relating to higher-income status.

Similar programs by states:

• Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana- MP.
• The Rythu Bandhu scheme- Telangana.
• Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA)- Odisha.

Significance:

• Around 12 crore small and marginal farmer families are expected to benefit from this.
• It would not only provide assured supplemental income to the most vulnerable farmer families but would also meet their emergent needs especially before the harvest season.
• It would pave the way for the farmers to earn and live a respectable living.

About:

• In 2016, MoFPI introduced an umbrella Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters or SAMPADA, which was proposed to be implemented with an allocation of ₹6,000 crores for the period of 2016-20.
• In 2017, SAMPADA was renamed as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY).
• It is a Central Sector Scheme.
• It is a comprehensive package aiming to create modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet.
• Its period is coterminous with the cycle of 14th finance commission. It has various schemes within its gamut.
• Recently, 32 projects have been sanctioned under PMKSY.
• The projects are spread across almost 17 States, leveraging an investment worth ₹406 crores.
• These projects envisage the creation of direct and indirect employment, especially in rural areas.

Objectives:

• To supplement agriculture.
• To create processing and preservation capacities.
• To modernise and expand existing food processing units with a view to increasing the level of processing.
• To add value leading to the reduction of wastage.

Seven component schemes under PMKSY:

1. Mega Food Parks.
2. Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure.
3. Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Clusters.
4. Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages.
5. Creation/Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities.
6. Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure.
7. Human Resources and Institutions.