PANAJI
On the occasion of World Post Day which was celebrated on Friday (9 October), Goa Agriculture Department announced the country’s first and a unique drive in association with India Post to bring all farmers in the State under the PM Kisan Sanman Nidhi Scheme.
Nearly 11,000 Goan farmers who could not enroll so far for PM Kisan Sanman Nidhi, are being reached out to their doorstep through the postman. The local postmen who so far been seen as bringing mail to the doorstep will now come to fill the form for nearly 11,000 farmers in the state who are eligible for enrollment into this scheme as per the department records.
There are 38,000 Krishi Card holders in Goa, out of which 21,000 are eligible for this scheme. The Department has in the last years conducted two drives whereby 10,000 farmers out of an eligible 21,000 have been enrolled.
"There was a question of how to approach the remaining 11,000 farmers. With this question the Agiriculture Department approached India Posts which responded positively and said that their postmen will go door to door and get the forms filled,” said Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar, who is also the Agriculture Minister.
Kavlekar was addressing media persons at Krishi Bhavan in Tonca.
Post Master General Dr Vinod Kumar, Senior Superintendent of Post Office Sudhir Gopal Jakhare, Secretary Agriculture Kuldeep Singh Gangar and Director Agriculture Nevil Alphonso were present at this joint press meet of India Post and Directorate of Agriculture.
This is the first such exercise in India to enroll farmers into PM Kisan Sanman Nidhi Scheme, whereby the postmen and the reach of the department is utilized to benefit the farmers.
“We will make more such runs so that farmers of Goa benefit from agriculture schemes and they are not left behind due to lack of connectivity or any other reason. We will simplify other agriculture schemes in coming days so that farmers are benefited outright,” Kavlekar said on the occasion of World Post Day.
“255 post offices spread over all the nooks and corners of Goa and over 300 employees of India Posts are involved in this campaign. Over the past 10 days, what started as a trial run, we have been able to collect 5,000 filled forms and the joint exercise is a great success from our point of view. Those farmers who don’t have savings account in banks, the postman or local post office will open for them zero balance savings account in the India Post Payments Bank just by using the Aadhaar number,” said Post Master General Dr Vinod Kumar on the occasion.
Director of Agriculture Nevil Alphonso said that, government employees, current and past elected representatives, well to do farmers are not eligible to avail benefits under this scheme. "This PM Kisan Sanman Nidhi Scheme where the farmers directly receive direct benefit transfer of Rs 2,000 in three installments every year, is for the economically weaker farmers.”
