-TheWire.in The scheme is far from being inclusive and will likely exacerbate already unequal social and economic conditions. The focal point of this year’s budget has been the announcement of a new centrally-sponsored scheme, the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kishan Samman Nidhi’ (PM-KISAN). This scheme assures small and marginal farm households a guaranteed Annual Income support of Rs 6,000. However, this scheme is hardly the first instance of agricultural income support in the country. States...

-Financial Express With elections approaching, every party is swearing by farmers and trying to woo them for their votes. The Modi government has already announced a package of Rs 75,000 crore for about 12.6 crore small and marginal farmers. While in absolute terms it looks sizeable, when it is divided by the number of farm families to be covered, it is miniscule—just `6,000 per family per year, which is about 6%...

-VillageSquare.in It will not be easy to optimally deploy the basic income support announced by the government for small and marginal farmers. The scheme has large exclusions in the landless and the women as well India has taken the first step in providing basic income support to small and marginal farmers owning up to 2 hectares of land. This is to be a direct benefit transfer (DBT) of an annual Rs 6,000...

-The Hindu Business Line In the wake of the government announcing direct income support of ?6,000 per year for small and marginal farmers in the interim Budget on February 1, the Reserve Bank of India, on Thursday, raised the limit for collateral-free agriculture loans to Rs.1.6 lakh from Rs.1 lakh. The central bank said the increased limit will enhance coverage of small and marginal farmers in the formal credit system. The circular...

-The Indian Express Direct income support for farmers is too late, too little The hopes of farmers for a meaningful package from the Modi government have evaporated after the announcements in the Union budget. The proposed Rs 6,000 annual direct income support to small and marginal farmers is a drop in the ocean. States like Telangana and Odisha have done much better with their Rythu Bandhu and Kalia schemes respectively. After...