Kaithal, July 16 : As the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the 'Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana', farmers across the country have started welcoming the move. Indra Singh, a farmer from Kaithal, Haryana, said on Wednesday that the scheme is a much-needed step and will bring direct benefits to the farming community.

Speaking to IANS, Indra Singh expressed optimism: "With the Pradhan Mantri Dhan-Dhaanya Yojana, the government is doing good work for us. Proper irrigation through underground pipelines will help prevent water wastage. If crop storage is made available at the village level, it will ease our burden. Transporting crops is costly, and sometimes tractor owners charge high rents. This scheme will help cover those expenses."

He further added that access to affordable loans through government channels would be a game-changer for small farmers.

"Middlemen charge us high interest and often delay repayments. But with this scheme, loans from the government will be cheaper and easier to access. It will reduce our dependency on local moneylenders," he told IANS.

The Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, set to begin in 2025-26, will run for six years and cover 100 districts across India. It draws inspiration from NITI Aayog's Aspirational Districts Programme and focuses exclusively on agriculture and allied sectors.

It aims to enhance agricultural productivity, increase adoption of crop diversification and sustainable agricultural practices, augment post-harvest storage at the panchayat and block levels, improve irrigation facilities and facilitate availability of long-term and short-term credit, according to the official statement.

The scheme will be implemented through the convergence of 36 existing schemes across 11 departments, other state schemes and local partnerships with the private sector.

As many as 100 districts will be identified based on three key indicators of low productivity, low cropping intensity, and less credit disbursement. The number of districts in each state/UT will be based on the share of Net Cropped Area and operational holdings. However, a minimum of 1 district will be selected from each state, according to an official statement.

Committees will be formed at the District, State and National level for effective planning, implementation and monitoring of the Scheme. A District Agriculture and Allied Activities Plan will be finalised by the District Dhan Dhaanya Samiti, which will also have progressive farmers as members.

The District Plans will be aligned to the national goals of crop diversification, conservation of water and soil health, self-sufficiency in agriculture and allied sectors, as well as expansion of natural and organic farming.

The progress of the scheme in each Dhan-Dhaanya district will be monitored on 117 key Performance Indicators through a dashboard monthly.

NITI Aayog will also review and guide the district plans. Besides, Central Nodal Officers appointed for each district will also review the scheme regularly, the statement explained.

/IANS