PM-Kisan target: 10 Lakh beneficiaries

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Around 8.76 lakh farmers in the state get benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). The State government has a target of including ten lakh farmers in the list of beneficiaries. The government has removed ineligible beneficiaries from the list at the initial stage.

Addressing a press conference today, State Agrculture Minister Atul Bora said, “The state has around 27 lakh farmers. At the launch of PM-Kisan, many ineligible people made it to the list of its beneficiaries all over India, not only in Assam, for easy money. During a review meeting with officers and employees of the department, we had doubts over the possibility that ineligible people might make it onto the list of beneficiaries. We conducted an inquiry into the matter with the Additional Chief Secretary and deleted the names of ineligible beneficiaries from the list, leading to the arrest of many people in the Morigaon district. After that, taking into account the situation of the scheme in the nation, the Centre also made the criteria stricter. Assam now has 8,76,149 PM-Kisan beneficiaries. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is putting much stress on the inclusion of more eligible beneficiaries in the list. Our target is to raise the number of beneficiaries to ten lakh. In the last (14th) installment, the beneficiary farmers of the state received Rs 273 crore through DBT.”

PM-Kisan is a central sector scheme with 100 percent funding from the Government of India.

On the oil palm cultivation controversy in the state, Bora said, “Oil palm is commercial cultivation yielding edible palm oil. India imports 40 percent of edible oil. Taking all pros and cons into consideration, the Central Government has taken the decision to lay emphasis on oil palm cultivation on fallow land. In Assam, too, oil palm cultivation started on fallow land. Of late, a controversy has erupted that oil palm cultivation will be detrimental to biodiversity and the soil underneath. In the past 40 years, the Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research has been conducting research on oil palm cultivation. According to the institute, oil palm cultivation has no adverse impact on biodiversity. It will adversely impact biodiversity if we cultivate it on forest land. A few countries cultivated it on forest land, which had an adverse impact. Some say oil palm absorbs more water from beneath the soil, but this is not based on fact as its roots go up to 60 cm beneath the soil. And the water table is much below.”

Bora informed the media that the government has identified 3.75 lakh hectares of fallow land in the state for oil palm cultivation and will cultivate oil palm on two lakh hectares of land by 2025–26 under the Central Government’s scheme. Palm oil cultivation was underway in Golapara and Bongaigaon districts.

He said that the government’s thrust is on organic farming and making Majuli an organic hub.

Also Read:   8.76 lakh farmers in Assam get Pradhan Mantri-Kisan installment

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