Centre doing ‘all it can’ to help farmers:

Centre doing ‘all it can’ to help farmers:

Context:

• With alarming rise in the farmer’s suicide, the government has been executing an array of proactive schemes.

Introduction:

• The heartbreaking issue of farmer’s suicide is being addressed by the NITI Aayog.
• As the matter is quite delicate and serious it was necessary to give the government some time to implement its welfare schemes.
• The court gave the government a six-month duration  to work on its schemes before re-visiting the issue at the next hearing.

Initiatives:

•  Pradhan Mantri  Fasal  Bhima Yojan was a huge improvement over the previous schemes of the past.
• The government’s primary efforts were on to bring more farmers into the institutional fold by ensuring availability of crop loans through commercial, cooperative and regional rural banks.
• ATM-enabled Kisan Credit cards had been introduced to enable farmers to purchase raw materials and draw cash.
• Moreover, RBI had allowed banks to take a lenient view on rescheduling of loans.
• The government is drafting a Model Act to ensure multiple market channels and prevent monopolies.
• The government has also initiated programmes like National Food Security Mission, National Mission for Oilseed and Oil Palm, Mission of Integrated Development for Horticulture, National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology.

Suggestion:

• Even though the complete eradication of the issue is taking a while but the government should make sure that there is no loophole or discontinuation of the prevailing and proposed schemes.