Govt rolls out additional benefits under PM-KISAN

Karnataka on Wednesday transferred Rs 2,000 to the bank accounts of one lakh farmers as part of an additional incentive the B S Yediyurappa regime will provide under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme.

"As you’re all aware, Prime Minister Modi has announced a scheme under which farmers will get ₹6,000 a year in three installments. Ours is a pro-farmer government and we’ve decided to give farmers an additional ₹4,000 to every farmer in two instalments," Yediyurappa, the chief minister, said.

On Wednesday, the first installment of Rs 2,000 of the state's incentive was remitted to one lakh farmers' bank accounts via Aadhaar-based Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The next installment will be paid in the coming days, Yediyurappa said.

"I don’t think there’s any other government in the country that has taken a decision to give farmers additional benefits on its own under the PM-Kisan scheme,” he said.

A total of 44.93 lakh farmers from Karnataka have enrolled to receive the financial benefit under the scheme. Of them, the Centre has approved 34.28 lakh farmers.

"We’re launching our share of the incentive by transferring the first installment to one lakh farmers. The rest will be covered in the coming days. The second installment will be paid next month," Yediyurappa said.

The government will incur a burden of ₹2,200 crore for paying each farmer ₹4,000 per year.

The state government has developed a web portal fruitspmk.karnataka.gov.in for maintenance of farmers’ database.