NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh may have the highest number of marginal and small farmers, having landholding sizes up to 2 hectares, but it’s Bihar and Jharkhand that occupy the top two slots when it comes to enrolling for an old-age contributory pension scheme for landholder cultivators under the PM Kisan Mandhan Yojana (PM-KMY) -- a central flagship scheme for farmers launched five years ago but remained under the shadow of the popular PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi (income support) and crop insurance schemes.
So far, 23.38 lakh marginal and small farmers have been enrolled for the scheme where farmers are eligible to get a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 after attaining the age of 60. Farmers will, however, have to contribute monthly to the pension fund during their working years, with matching contributions from the central govt.
Farmers, aged between 18 and 40 years, need to contribute between Rs 55 to Rs 200 per month until they turn 60, depending on their age of entry into the scheme, launched in Sept 2019 to provide security to all around 12.3 crore landholding small and marginal farmers.
Since the number of those who (18-40 age group) can enroll for the scheme must be one-third of the total number of small and marginal farmers as per an estimate, it is still a long way to go before more eligible farmers come under the ambit of this ambitious social security scheme.
Five-year data of the scheme for the top 10 states/UT shows that Bihar has the highest number of enrolments (3.44 lakh) under the scheme followed by Jharkhand (2.53 lakh), UP (2.51 lakh), Chhattisgarh (2 lakh), Odisha (1.57 lakh), Jammu & Kashmir (1.26 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (1.17 lakh), Tamil Nadu (1.1 lakh), Maharashtra (80,196) and Haryana (67,858).
"Given the number of small and marginal landholding farmers in the country, the enrollment is not much. The low number can be attributed to the entry clause (between 18 and 40 years of age) as there must be a huge number of landholding farmers who might have crossed the age limit long before the beginning of the scheme," said an official.
He said though there is absolute clarity on all aspects of the ambitious scheme, it depends on local authorities at block-levels and panchayats to take it forward by creating awareness on the ground through Common Service Centres (CSCs) which are responsible for beneficiary registration. "Higher number of registrations in states like Bihar and Jharkhand than in UP must be a result of such awareness," he said.
The pension fund for the scheme is being managed by the public sector insurance company, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). If the subscriber passes away while receiving their pension, his/her spouse will be entitled to a family pension equal to 50% (Rs 1500 per month) of the amount he/she was receiving.
So far, 23.38 lakh marginal and small farmers have been enrolled for the scheme where farmers are eligible to get a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 after attaining the age of 60. Farmers will, however, have to contribute monthly to the pension fund during their working years, with matching contributions from the central govt.
Farmers, aged between 18 and 40 years, need to contribute between Rs 55 to Rs 200 per month until they turn 60, depending on their age of entry into the scheme, launched in Sept 2019 to provide security to all around 12.3 crore landholding small and marginal farmers.
Since the number of those who (18-40 age group) can enroll for the scheme must be one-third of the total number of small and marginal farmers as per an estimate, it is still a long way to go before more eligible farmers come under the ambit of this ambitious social security scheme.
Five-year data of the scheme for the top 10 states/UT shows that Bihar has the highest number of enrolments (3.44 lakh) under the scheme followed by Jharkhand (2.53 lakh), UP (2.51 lakh), Chhattisgarh (2 lakh), Odisha (1.57 lakh), Jammu & Kashmir (1.26 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (1.17 lakh), Tamil Nadu (1.1 lakh), Maharashtra (80,196) and Haryana (67,858).
"Given the number of small and marginal landholding farmers in the country, the enrollment is not much. The low number can be attributed to the entry clause (between 18 and 40 years of age) as there must be a huge number of landholding farmers who might have crossed the age limit long before the beginning of the scheme," said an official.
He said though there is absolute clarity on all aspects of the ambitious scheme, it depends on local authorities at block-levels and panchayats to take it forward by creating awareness on the ground through Common Service Centres (CSCs) which are responsible for beneficiary registration. "Higher number of registrations in states like Bihar and Jharkhand than in UP must be a result of such awareness," he said.
The pension fund for the scheme is being managed by the public sector insurance company, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). If the subscriber passes away while receiving their pension, his/her spouse will be entitled to a family pension equal to 50% (Rs 1500 per month) of the amount he/she was receiving.
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