Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy has said that under the PM Kisan Samman Scheme, 45 lakh farmers of the State have received assistance worth ₹350 crore and with the disbursement of the 17th instalment under the scheme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has protected the interests of farmers.
He was speaking after distributing Krishi Sakhi certificates to beneficiaries during live streaming of the PM Kisan Samman 17th installment distribution programme at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Dharwad on Tuesday.
Mr. Kumaraswamy said that the decision to disburse the instalment of ₹2,000 once in four months was taken during the first Cabinet meeting chaired by Mr. Modi and within a week of that, the amount has been credited to farmers bank accounts.
In all, 9.80 crore farmers in the country have received ₹20,000 crore, he said and added that in Dharwad district, one lakh farmers have received ₹20 crore.
The Union Minister said that the Modi 3.0 government is focused on upholding the interests of farmers along with giving a major boost to the farm sector.
“This flagship scheme of the NDA government was introduced in 2019. So far, the Centre has extended assistance worth ₹3.20 lakh crore to farmers,” he said and added that the Centre will work in the interest of farmers and extend help through various schemes.
During the function, farmer leader Mallikarjun Balangoudar submitted a memorandum to Mr. Kumaraswamy mentioning about the problems being faced by farmers who have not received the drought relief amount yet and urged the Minister to take up the issue with higher officials to resolve it.
He also urged the government to reduce the prices of seeds and fertilisers and initiate steps to clear the hurdles delaying the Kalasa Banduri Nala project.
Vice-chancellor of UAS Dharwad P.L. Patil spoke. Senior officials were present.
