CONTEXT:

• Around 3.10 crore small farmers have so far received the first tranche of Rs 2,000 each under the PM-Kisan scheme.
• 10 crore peasants have got the second installment as well, costing Rs 10,500 crore to the exchequer.
• The government had announced that 12 crore farmers would be covered under the Rs 75,000- crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.

BACKGROUND

• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is a new income support scheme announced by the Union government.
• Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), every family owning not more than two hectares of cultivable land is entitled to receive Rs 6,000 per year via direct benefit transfer.
• It is likely to cover 12 crore small and marginal farmers and has annual budgetary allocation of Rs 75,000 crore.
• Each smallholder is entitled to receive the amount in a bank account in three tranches of Rs 2,000 each.