Lok Sabha Question No. 423 (STARRED), answered on 2019-07-23
Subject: Support to Women Farmers under MKSP
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, Kuldeep Rai Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 423

TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2019

## SUPPORT TO WOMEN FARMERS UNDER MKSP

| *423.                                                           | DR. HEENA GAVIT: SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA:                                                                                                                           |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (a)                                                             | the details of programmes undertaken to support women farmers under the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) in the country;                                |
| (b)                                                             | the salient features of the MKSP along with its present status and the quantum of funds allocated under the said scheme;                                            |
| (c)                                                             | the details of the targets set and achievements made there under so far;                                                                                            |
| (d)                                                             | whether the Government has failed to create awareness among women regarding the Pariyojana; and                                                                     |
| (e)                                                             | if so, whether the Government proposes to create proper awareness regarding the Pariyojana so that women farmers could be benefited and if so, the details thereof? |
| ANSWER MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRINARENDRA SINGH TOMAR) | ANSWER MINISTER OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRINARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)                                                                                                     |
| (a) to (e):                                                     | A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.                                                                                                                      |

*****

## STATEMENT  (a)  to  (e)  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION NO. *423 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2019.

(a): Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP), launched in 2011 as a sub component of  Deendayal  Antyodaya  Yojana-National  Rural  Livelihood  Mission  (DAY-NRLM),  aims  at meeting  the  specific  needs  of  women  farmers  to  enable  them  to  achieve  socio  economic empowerment.  The  primary  objective  of  the  MKSP  is  to  empower  women  in  agriculture  by making systematic investments to enhance their participation and productivity, as also create and sustain their agriculture-based livelihoods. The scheme also supports development of a pool of community resource persons to enable the community institutions to manage their activities.

(b) & (c): Three broad focus programmatic areas of MKSP are (i) Sustainable Agriculture (ii)  Non-Timber  Forest  Produces  (NTFP)  and  (iii)  Value  Chain  Development.  Livestock interventions  are  integrated  with  both  Sustainable  Agriculture  and  NTFP  projects.  The  key interventions promoted under the components are as follows:

## Sustainable Agriculture

-  To improve the skills and capabilities of women in agriculture to support farm and non-farmbased activities;
-  To ensure food and nutrition security at the household and the community level;
-  To enable women to have better access to inputs and services of the government and other agencies;
-  To enhance the managerial capacities of women in agriculture for better management of biodiversity;

## Non-Timber Forest Produce

-  To  promote  regeneration  of  NTFP  species  to  improve  the  bio  diversity  and  enhanced productivity;
-  To  build  the  capacity  of  the  community  in  sustainable  harvesting  and  post  harvesting techniques to increase their income;
-  To promote local value addition of NTFP and market linkages to ensure higher returns;
-  To enable women to have better access to their entitlements and services of the government and other agencies;
-  To promote the use of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) to improve the livelihoods opportunities of the NTFP collectors.

## Value Chain Development

-  To ensure higher price realization for the agriculture, dairying and NTFP produce  for the small and marginal women farmers;
-  To  ensure  increased  bargaining  power  of  small  and  marginal  producers  by  achieving

economy of scale and therefore negotiate better prices;

-  To  develop  robust  business  models  at  scale  for  the  commodities  produced  by  small  and marginal women farmers;
-  To  develop  scalable  and  sustainable  Producers'  Enterprises  to  implement  the  value  chain development interventions;
-  To take up Capacity building of the community for value addition of commodities, better post-harvest handling, knowledge of quality parameters, etc.;
-  To promote the use of  ICT for  accounting,  inventory  management,  payment  to  producers and market information dissemination.

A total number of 84 MKSP projects have so far been sanctioned for implementation in 24 States with a target of coverage of 33.81 lakhs mahila kisans. As on 31.03.2019, a total of 35,97,743 mahila  kisans  have  been  covered  in  30,807  villages.  A  total  Central  allocation  of  Rs.  847.48 crore has been made towards implementation of the approved projects, out of which an amount of 570.26 crore has already been released.

(d) & (e): No  Sir.  The  Ministry  is  continuously  working  to  create  awareness  about  the project  through  the  State  Rural  Livelihoods  Missions.  The  benefits  of  taking  up  sustainable practices in Agriculture, NTFP, and livestock are discussed in the SHG meetings. The learning from  the  practices  adopted  under  MKSP  are  now  being  scaled  up  by  the  Rural  Livelihoods Missions of States/UTs as a universal intervention under their DAY NRLM Annual Action Plans (AAPs). The AAPs of 29 States have been approved which inter alia include coverage of around 34 lakhs SHG members for interventions around Agro Ecological Practices, NTFP and livestock practices, over and above the MKSP targets.

The  IEC  (Information,  Education  and  Communication)  strategies  and  campaigns  of  DAYNRLM cover all its sub components including MKSP.

*****