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Government has started registrations process for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY), which was announced during the Budget 2019-20. Under this scheme, a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 will be provided to eligible farmers on attaining the age of 60.
Addressing a press conference here at Krishi Bhawan today, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar appealed to farmers across the country to join the old age pension Scheme, adding that it has been envisioned with an aim to improve the life of small and marginal farmers of the country. The Minister said that the operational guidelines have been shared with the states and Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal conducted a Video Conference with States in this regard to ensure proper information dissemination and speedy implementation of the Scheme.
Tomar elucidated the salient features of scheme given here:
1. According to the minister, the scheme is voluntary and contributory for farmers in the entry age group of 18 to 40 years and a monthly pension of Rs 3000/- will be provided to them on attaining the age of 60 years.
2. The farmers will have to make a monthly contribution of Rs.55 to Rs.200, depending on their age of entry, in the Pension Fund till they reach the retirement date i.e. the age of 60 years.
3. The Centre will also make an equal contribution of the same amount in the pension fund, he said, adding that the spouse is also eligible to get a separate pension of Rs 3000/- upon making separate contributions to the Fund.
4. The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) shall be the Pension Fund Manager and responsible for Pension pay out.
5. In case of death of the farmer before retirement date, the spouse may continue in the scheme by paying the remaining contributions till the remaining age of the deceased farmer.
6. If the spouse does not wish to continue, the total contribution made by the farmer along with interest will be paid to the spouse. If there is no spouse, then total contribution along with interest will be paid to the nominee.
7. If the farmer dies after the retirement date, the spouse will receive 50% of the pension as Family Pension. After the death of both the farmer and the spouse, the accumulated corpus shall be credited back to the Pension Fund.
8. The beneficiaries may opt voluntarily to exit the scheme after a minimum period of 5 years of regular contributions. On exit, their entire contribution shall be returned by LIC with an interest equivalent to prevailing saving bank rates.
The minister, however, said that under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi the target of 10 crore beneficiaries for this year will be achieved, adding that till date 5,88,77,194 and 3,40,93,837 farmers’ families have availed 1st and 2nd instalments respectively under the PM-Kisan Scheme.
