The Indian government created the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY) to provide social security to small-scale farmers as they grow older. The PM-KMY is known for providing financial help to elderly farmers without a source of income and having little or no savings to cover their costs. The KM-KMY is in effect as of August 9, 2019.
Even though the government provided income and price assistance to farmers, there was a need to establish a social security net for farmers as they became older, as this may result in a loss of income. In addition, farming necessitates long hours in the fields, and doing agricultural labor as an elderly person is difficult.
The situation is exacerbated for small and marginal farmers since they have little savings. As a result, the government created the PM-KMY to offer guaranteed monthly pensions to old-age smallholder farmers, regardless of gender, who reach the age of 60.
Details of the Scheme:
The current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, introduced the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana in Ranchi, Jharkhand. This is known for being a Central Sector Scheme operated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, the Department of Agriculture, and the Government of India in collaboration with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
PM Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana, which pays a secured monthly annuity of Rs. 3000/- to all small-scale farmers (who own a cultivable land of up to atleast 2 hectares) once they reach the age of 60, is managed by LIC. This plan was created to ensure the survival of India’s farming community.
In India, the PM-KMY Scheme is a government-run program for farmers aged 18 to 40. By enrolling with the Life Insurance Corporation of India’s Pension Fund, the recipient becomes a PM-KMY Scheme (LIC) member. Members of this Scheme are further expected to make a monthly payment to the Pension Fund ranging from Rs.55 to Rs.200 per month, depending on their age, with the Central Government contributing equally. According to statistics from November 14, 2019, this plan has enrolled 18,29,469 farmers throughout India. This program is open to all small-scale farmers. However, the ratio of their contribution and the Union Government must make under this Yojana is 1:1. Therefore, the assistance of the government under the PM-KMY Scheme is equivalent to the monthly donation of the farmer.
Eligibility for the Scheme:
All smallholder farmers between the age of 18 and 40 who hold cultivable land up to atleast 2 hectares according to the land records of the respective State/UT are considered eligible to apply for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana and are also eligible to benefit from all of the Scheme’s advantages.
Farmers who fall within the methodological limitations are not entitled to receive the bonus.
Farmers who meet the following conditions, however, are not eligible for the program:
1. The PM-KMY Scheme is not open to smallholder farmers who have already enrolled in other schemes, for instance, the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation scheme, National Pension Scheme (NPS), Employees’ Fund Organization Scheme, and so on.
2. Farmers chosen for the Ministry of Labour & Employment’s Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan Dhan Yojana (PMSYM) or the Ministry of Labour & Employment’s Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maan-Dhan Yojana (PM-LVM) are also ineligible for this plan.
Benefits of PM-KMY Scheme:
- The beneficiary’s spouse is also eligible for the plan and can receive a separate pension of Rs.3000/- by contributing separately to the Fund.
- If the policyholder passes before the retirement date, the spouse is supposed to continue the plan by contributing the remaining funds. However, if the spouse does not persist, the farmer’s full payment, plus interest, will be paid to the spouse.
- If there is no spouse, the nominee will get the whole gift, including interest.
- If the farmer passes away before the retirement date, their spouse will be entitled to half of the income as a Family Pension. The collected corpus will be refunded to the Pension Fund once the farmer and their spouse have died.
Features of PM-KMY
- The PM-KMY is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare’s Department of Agriculture, Cooperation, including Farmers Welfare, in collaboration with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
- The LIC is the Pension Fund Manager and is in charge of pension payments under the PM-KMY.
- For all land ownership small-scale farmers in India, the PM-KMY is a periodic and voluntary contribution-based pension scheme.
- Small scale farmers have the opportunity of paying their voluntary contributions to the PM-KMY directly from the PM-KISAN Scheme’s cash advantages.
- Under the PM-KMY, the Central Government contributes the same amount to the pension fund as the qualifying farmer through the Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare.
Application Procedure for PM-KMY
PM-KMY enrollment is available both online and offline. In addition, self-registration via the MAANDHAN site allows farmers to enroll in PM-KMY. Registration in the PM-KMY is entirely free.
The following is the procedure for enrolling in PM-KMY offline:
Small-scale farmers who are considered to be eligible must apply for the PM-KMY at their local Common Service Center (CSC) with the required items:
- Savings bank account number along with IFSC code from Aadhaar card.
- The initial payment to the Village Level Entrepreneur should be paid in cash (VLE).
- For online verification, the VLE will input the subscriber’s name, the Aadhaar number, and date of birth as written on their Aadhaar card.
- The VLE will finish the online registration for the PM-KMY by entering the qualifying farmer’s cell phone number, bank account information, spouse (if applicable), email address, and nominee information.
- The monthly payment to be paid by the farmer will automatically be calculated by the online system based on the farmer’s/age.
- The subscriber must pay the VLE in cash for the first month’s subscription.
- Then, the subscriber must sign the printed Enrolment cum Auto Debit mandate form. The same would be scanned and uploaded to the VLE.
- The Kisan Card will be published when a unique Kisan Pension Account Number (KPAN) is created.
