Maharashtra farmers to get Rs 6,000 a year under new scheme approved by Cabinet

Pitching for double-engine government in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls, the 11-month-old Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis dispensation on Tuesday rolled out two ambitious schemes like the NaMo Shetkari Mahasanman Yojana on the lines of Pradhan Mantri-Kisan Samman Nidhi and crop insurance scheme for farmers at just one-rupee.

The announcement was made on March 9 when Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister, tabled the State Budget 2023-24.

The scheme was formally rolled out at the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday presided over by CM Shinde.

“The schemes would greatly help the farmers and it is a historic decision,” Shinde said after the meeting.

With farmers facing multiple issues including unseasonal rains and hailstorms, these would come as a major relief to them.

The decision also comes ahead of the 2023 local bodies polls in Maharashtra - which would be a sort of mini-Assembly polls ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and a litmus test for the Shiv Sena-BJP saffron alliance government and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Under the NaMo scheme, the state government will provide an additional amount of Rs 6,000 along with Rs 6,000 per farmer per year from the central government. In this way, an amount of Rs. 12,000 will be deposited in the farmer's account every year. This will benefit 1.15 crore farmer families. For this, an outlay of Rs 6900 crore is proposed in 2023-24.

There is a provision to pay two per cent of the insurance premium by the farmer in the Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme, however, now the insurance premium for their share will be paid by the state government itself and now even this burden will not be placed on farmers. Farmers can register on the Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Yojana portal by paying a nominal fee of Re 1 and an annual outlay of Rs. 3312 crore will be made by the state government for this scheme, acceding to the earlier budget announcement.