Question : Doubling of Farmers’ Income by 2022

(a) whether the Government is aware of the plight of farmers in the country and if so, the steps taken by the Government to enhance their income;

(b) whether the Government has set a target of doubling of farmers’ income by the year 2022, if so, the details thereof and the steps being taken in this regard along with the progress made so far in achieving the said target;

(c) whether it is a fact that the Government would be giving Rs. 3,000/- each to all farm landholders under a contributory pension scheme, if so, whether the Government is aware that many of the farm landholders in the country are absentee farmers and are not entitled to this scheme;

(d) if so, the manner in which the Government would ensure that the income of actual farmers and not just that of absentee landholders is increased;

(e) whether the Government has details regarding the number of farmers who have been facilitated since the said scheme started and if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and

(f) whether the growth in agriculture trails that of the economy and the share of agriculture in the national output has declined drastically over time from around 50 per cent in the early 1950s to 15.4 per cent in 2018-19 and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
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(a) to (f): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.



STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 21 DUE FOR REPLY ON 19TH NOVEMBER, 2019.


(a) & (b): The Government is aware of the plight of the farmers and to address this issue the Government constituted an Inter-ministerial Committee in April, 2016 to examine issues relating to “Doubling of Farmers Income” and recommend strategies to achieve the same. The Committee submitted its Report to the Government in September, 2018 and thereafter, an Empowered Body was set up on 23.01.2019 to monitor and review the progress against the recommendations. Due to the efforts made as part of schemes/ programmes of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare which also aligns with the strategy of doubling farmers’ income, there has been an appreciable improvement in efficiency bringing about a positive impact in the agriculture sector. The details of these new schemes and initiatives by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare are placed at Annexure-I.
(c) to (e): The Government has launched a pension scheme, namely, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY), w.e.f. 12th September, 2019 for all Small and Marginal Farmers in the country holding cultivable land upto 2 hectare, subject to certain exclusion clauses, with a view to provide them social security net as they have minimal or no savings to provide for old age and to support them in the event of consequent loss of livelihood. The Scheme is expected to benefit about 3 crore farmer families. The scheme provides for payment of a minimum fixed pension of Rs.3,000/- per month to the eligible farmers on attaining the age of 60 years. It is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme, with entry age of 18 to 40 years. Landholding is the basic criteria for the PM-KMY and hence only farmers holding cultivable land are eligible for the benefit under this Scheme, irrespective of whether they actually reside in the villages or not. As on 13.11.2019, a total of 18,29,469 farmers have joined the Scheme. A statement containing State/UT-wise number of farmers enrolled into the Scheme is at Annexure-II.
Contd…2/-

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(f): As per the estimates released by Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on 31st May, 2019, the share of Agriculture and Allied Sectors in Gross Value Added (GVA) of the country at current prices was 16.1 percent in the year 2018-19. The share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of agriculture and allied sector in total economy in 1951-52 (at current prices) was 50.7%.