PM to launch financing facility of Rs 1 lakh cr under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund on Sunday
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday launch a financing facility of Rs one lakh crore under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. He will also release the sixth instalment of funds of Rs 17,000 crore to 8.5 crore farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme, an official statement said on Saturday.
The virtual event will be witnessed by lakhs of farmers and cooperatives across the country. Union Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will also be present. The Union Cabinet had approved the Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under the "Agriculture Infrastructure Fund" of Rs one lakh crore.
The fund will catalyse the creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets such as cold storage, collection centres and processing units, the statement pointed out.
These assets will enable the farmers to get greater value for their produce as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage and increase processing and value addition, it said.
Rs one lakh crore will be sanctioned under the financing facility in partnership with multiple lending institutions. Eleven of the 12 public sector banks have already signed MoUs with the Department of Agriculture. A three per cent interest subvention and credit guarantee of up to Rs 2 crore will be provided to the beneficiaries to increase the viability of these projects.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN) scheme, launched on December 1 2018, has provided a direct cash benefit of over Rs 75,000 crore to more than 9.9 crore farmers, it said.This has enabled them to fulfil their agricultural requirements and support their families.
The scheme has also been instrumental in supporting farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic, through the release of nearly Rs 22,000 crore.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rahul Gandhi calls Great Nicobar Island project a ‘major threat’ to environment, tribal heritage
Sri Vijaypuram (Port Blair)/ Nicobar: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the Centre’s development initiative in Great Nicobar Island on Wednesday, On his maiden visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gandhi alleged that the project will lad to large-scale environmental degradation and displacement of local communities.
The Rae Bareli MP, in a post on X after visiting the island, said the project would lead to extensive deforestation and adversely impact indigenous populations.
“So I will say it plainly, and I will keep saying it: what is being done in Great Nicobar is one of the biggest scams and gravest crimes against this country’s natural and tribal heritage in our lifetime,” Gandhi added.
“The government calls what it is doing here a ‘Project’. What I have seen is not a project. It is millions of trees marked for the axe… It is communities that have been ignored while their homes have been snatched away,” Gandhi said.
Describing the initiative as “destruction dressed in development’s language”, he termed it one of the “biggest scams” against the country’s natural and tribal heritage and called for it to be stopped.
Gandhi also claimed that nearly 160 square kilometres of rainforest could be affected, raising concerns over ecological damage.
