All the 15 lakh farmers registered so far under the Mukya Mantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana (MMKY) here may not get the benefits of the scheme at the time of its launch on August 10. The Government will verify the credentials of the registered farmers and remove the ineligible ones from the list before Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu rolls out the farmers’ welfare scheme on August 10 in Ranchi, officials from the State Agriculture Department said on Saturday.
The Government will send its data of around 15 lakh registered farmers to the Centre, which will verify their eligibility under three major parameters –Aadhaar authenticity, eligibility for Public Financial Management System (PFMS), and the aggregation of different pieces of lands owned by the farmers.
“Each level of verification may take around three days. We will send our data to the Centre at least 10 days in advance so that we have the final figure of eligible beneficiaries by August 8,” said Agriculture Secretary Puja Singhal.
Officials from the Directorate of Agriculture here said that the number of beneficiaries is likely to reduce by around 20 to 30 per cent during verification.
The farmers whose credentials are verified will get the benefit amount on August 10 through PFMS, they added.
Under MMKAY around 35 lakh farmers, who own lands up to five acres, are supposed to get cash support of Rs.5000 per acre from the State Government.
While only 15 lakh farmers have registered under the scheme so far, the Government is running aggressive campaigns to register the remaining 20 lakh farmers by October. However, since the announcement of the date for launch of the scheme, Government’s focus has shifted to verification of the credentials of the registered farmers.
In the wake of the rainfall deficit in Jharkhand this year, the government decided to expedite the rolling out of the scheme citing farmers’ distress as one of the major reasons for the early launch.
At least 18 of 24 districts in Jharkhand were declared drought affected last year. This year too, the State has witnessed a rainfall deficit of about 38 per cent so far.
The scheme also covers farmers whose lands are registered in the names of their ancestors, officials from the Agriculture Department said. “We have the provision for succession and genealogy in the scheme, so the farmers who are doing cultivation on lands owned by their ancestors shall not face any trouble in availing the benefits of the scheme,” said Singhal.
Besides the benefits of the MMKAY, farmers in Jharkhand will also get monetary benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana of the Centre. A farmer who owns less than 5 acres or 2 hectares of land in Jharkhand will get annual benefits of up to 31, 000, which will include Rs.6000 under the Centre’ scheme and up to Rs.25,000 under the MMKAY, officials said.
In 2018, as many as 93 blocks were declared severely drought affected, while 36 were told to be moderately affected in Jharkhand. As per weather experts, seven districts –Koderma, Bokaro, Chatra, Deoghar, Garhwa, Khunti, Pakur—recorded rain deficit of 40 per cent and above during monsoon in 2018. Koderma and Pakur districts received 55 per cent less rains than its normal monsoon quota.