LUCKNOW: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday rolled out the Rs 75,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Gorakhpur, transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers across 21 states and Union territories.
The scheme, which stands to benefit 12 crore farmers across India, proposes to transfer Rs 6,000 to their accounts in three instalments annually.Modi used the occasion to hit out at opposition parties, calling their concern for farmers a sham. “They gave rewaris (sops, like loan waivers), but we wanted effective solutions. They used to announce loan waivers at the time of elections, but I’m here to expose their intentions,” the PM asserted.
Modi further questioned the intentions of the earlier governments (Congress), saying their pro-farmer schemes used to be on paper alone and were never implemented honestly.
Earlier in the day, in his monthly radio broadcast Mann ki Baat, Modi asserted that the sacrifice of 40 CRPF soldiers, who died in the Pulwama attack, will keep “inspiring us relentlessly to uproot terrorism”, adding that the story of every family of martyrs is full of inspiration. This was his last Mann ki Baat ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.