Centre to launch pension scheme for small farmers

New Delhi: After the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna (PM-KISAN), the Union agriculture ministry is going to launch the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Mandhan Yojna, a pension scheme for small and marginal farmers.

While PM-KISAN is for all farmers, the pension scheme is only for small and marginal farmers who own less than two hectares of land.

Under the scheme, farmers will have to contribute Rs 100 per month. The scheme seeks to provide a minimum fixed monthly pension of Rs 3,000 on attaining 60 years of age. Farmers, who have already registered for the quarterly income support of Rs 2,000 under the PM-KISAN, will be the first to be targeted for the pension scheme.

According to officials, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and ministers of state Parshottam Rupala and Kailash Choudhary will soft launch the scheme on Friday.

“Like the case of PM-KISAN, the pension scheme will be officially rolled out only after a requisite number of beneficiaries are enrolled,” a senior officer told this newspaper.

The Centre will also contribute an equal amount to the pension fund to be managed by the Life Insurance Corporation , which will be responsible for the payout.

The Modi 2.0 government, in its first Cabinet meeting, had approved a separate pension scheme for farmers with an aim to cover 5 crore beneficiaries in the first three years.