PM Modi May Launch the Farmer Pension Scheme in August

The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana is expected to be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the month of August, according to senior officials. The enrolment for the pension scheme will commence from 1 August 2019.

According to sources, the much-hyped scheme may be announced in the PM’s Independence Day speech on 15 August 2019 or another event later during the month. However, the scheme will be officially launched only after the required number of beneficiaries are enrolled.

A similar scheme, PM-KISAN, announced earlier was launched only after the number of beneficiaries enrolled under the scheme touched one crore. In the same line, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana can be expected to be rolled out after the number of registrations reaches a critical mass of around 4 to 5 million.

Also Read: Union Budget 2019: Impact on farmers and agriculture sector

The pension scheme can only be availed by small and marginal farmers who own not more than two hectares of agricultural land. The PM-KISAN scheme, on the other hand, can be availed by all farmers irrespective of the land they own.

Beneficiaries under the scheme will be required to contribute Rs 100 monthly to receive a pension of at least Rs 3,000 per month on attaining the age of 60 years. Just as in the case of other pension schemes, the Centre will be contributing an equal amount to the pension fund. The pension payout to the beneficiaries will be governed by the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). 

To ensure transparency, the Centre will also set up an online grievance redressal system for the subscribers. Furthermore, beneficiaries can directly contribute to the scheme from the benefits received from the PM-KISAN scheme.