Lok Sabha Question No. 102 (STARRED), answered on 2023-12-11
Subject: Small Scale Farmers
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Sumedhanand Saraswati, Satya Pal Singh

## Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Financial Services

## LOK SABHA

Starred Question No. *102

Answered on Monday, December 11, 2023/Agrahayana 20, 1945 (Saka)

## SMALL SCALE FARMERS

## *102. SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI:

DR. SATYAPAL SINGH:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  measures  implemented  by  the  Government  to  facilitate  access  to  credit facilities for small farmers; and

- (b) the details of the initiatives  launched to provide social security to individuals, especially those working in the unorganised sector State/District-wise including Sonipat Parliamentary Constituency?

## Answer

THE FINANCE MINISTER (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

(a) to (b): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

******

Statement referred in reply to parts (a) to (b) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *102 to be answered on 11.12.2023 regarding small scale farmers by Shri Sumedhanand Saraswati and Dr. Satyapal Singh:

(a): The measures taken by Government to facilitate access to loan facilities for small farmers are as follows:

## (i) Specific Target for Agriculture in Priority Sector Lending:

As per RBI mandated priority sector lending targets, banks are required to lend 18% of previous years' Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) or Credit Equivalent of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure (CEOBE), whichever is higher, to agriculture, and within that 10% to for Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs).

## (ii) Kisan Credit Card Scheme:

The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme ensures easy credit access for various farmer categories, including owner cultivators, tenant farmers, sharecroppers, and more. As on 30.06.2023, there are total 7.36 crore operative KCC accounts with an outstanding amount of Rs. 8.86 lakh crore.

## (iii) Interest Subvention Scheme:

Concessional interest rates are being offered to farmers for loans up to ₹3 lakh for short-term crop and allied activity loans through KCC during 2022-23 and 2023-24. The applicable lending rate to farmers and the rate of interest subvention for the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24 is 7% and 1.5% per annum respectively.

- (iv) In relation to (iii), additional 3% prompt repayment incentive (PRI) is also given to the farmers for prompt and timely repayment of loans; thus, reducing the effective rate of interest to 4% per annum, subject to a maximum period of one year from the date of disbursement.

## (v) Collateral-Free Agricultural Loans:

RBI vide Circular dated February 7, 2019 raised the limit for collateral-free agriculture loans from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.6 lakh.

## (vi) Simplification of Lending Procedures:

RBI vide circular dated August 26, 2008 has advised banks to dispense with the requirement of 'no dues' certificate for small loans up to Rs. 50,000 to small and marginal farmers, share-croppers and the like and, instead, obtain alternate documentation or affidavits for loans to landless laborers, sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and oral lessees.

## (vii) Farmers' Producer Organisation (FPO):

Government of India launched Central Sector Scheme titled 'Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer  Producer  Organizations  (FPOs)'  to  create  and  support  10,000  new  FPOs  in  2021. NABARD  is  helping  these  FPOs  grow  by  supporting  them  with  funds  like  the  Producers' Organisation Development and Upliftment Corpus Fund (PRODUCE) and Producer Organisation Development Fund (PODF).

## (viii) Joint Liability Groups:

Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) help tenant/landless farmers and non-farm workers get loans without needing to offer collateral (like assets).

## (ix) Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) was introduced to provide comprehensive risk coverage for crops against all non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest stages at minimum premium.

(b): The details as available with this department are as follows:

- (i) Atal Pension Yojna (APY): The APY is focused on providing financial security by way of pension during old age to the unorganized sector workers in India.  As on 15.11.2023, there are 5.93 crores subscribers in the scheme with an overall corpus of Rs. 29,136 crores.
- (ii) Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojna (PMJJBY): Provides life insurance cover of Rs.2 lakh for death due to any reason. As on 15.11.2023, there are 18.51 crores enrolments that have taken place under the scheme.  A total of 7,16,137 claims have been paid amounting to Rs. 14,322.74 crores.
- (iii) Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna (PMSBY): Provides accidental Insurance cover of Rs. 2 lakh payable in case of death / total disability; and Rs. 1 Lakh in case of partial disability.
- (iv) Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojana (PM-SYM): In order to provide old age protection to unorganised sector workers, the Government of India had launched PM-SYM in 2019  to  provide  a  monthly  pension  of  Rs.  3000/-  after  attaining  the  age  of  60  years  to unorganized workers.
- (v) National  Pension  Scheme  for  Traders  and  Self-Employed  Persons  (NPS-Traders): Launched in 2019, the National Pension Scheme for traders is a voluntary and contributory pension initiative which aims at providing a monthly minimum assured pension of Rs. 3000/upon reaching the age of 60 for traders, shopkeepers, and self-employed persons.
- (vi) eShram Portal

Ministry of Labour & Employment has also launched eShram portal on 26.08.2021. The main objective of the eShram portal is to create a national database of unorganised workers and to facilitate delivery of Social Security and welfare Schemes to such workers.

State-wise details of Subscribers/Enrollment under above-mentioned Social Security Schemes as available with this department may be seen at Annexure I.

State-wise details of Subscribers/Enrollment under above-mentioned Social Security Schemes are given in table below:

| State                             | PMJJBY as on 15.11.2023   | PMSBY as on 15.11.2023   | APY as on 31.10.2023   | PM-SYM as on 04.12.2023   |
|-----------------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------|------------------------|---------------------------|
| Andaman And Nicobar Islands       | 61,145                    | 123,298                  | 10,322                 | 2,344                     |
| Andhra Pradesh                    | 10,364,432                | 24,125,718               | 29,88,393              | 1,70,671                  |
| Arunachal Pradesh                 | 171,155                   | 319,385                  | 25,651                 | 2,923                     |
| Assam                             | 3,557,046                 | 9,776,219                | 13,78,887              | 40,517                    |
| Bihar                             | 10,948,478                | 26,090,177               | 52,11,120              | 2,17,757                  |
| Chandigarh                        | 115,772                   | 361,643                  | 59,081                 | 4,348                     |
| Chhattisgarh                      | 4,917,303                 | 12,018,996               | 10,42,207              | 2,30,938                  |
| Dadra& Nagar Haveli & Daman n Diu | 119,782                   | 216,877                  | 33,851                 | 1,611                     |
| Delhi                             | 1,989,847                 | 5,202,987                | 7,53,743               | 10,406                    |
| Goa                               | 293,605                   | 597,073                  | 86,954                 | 1,983                     |
| Gujarat                           | 7,000,935                 | 15,551,681               | 21,66,793              | 3,88,908                  |
| Haryana                           | 3,466,276                 | 8,719,613                | 13,13,568              | 8,25,158                  |
| Himachal Pradesh                  | 850,046                   | 2,449,494                | 4,46,529               | 47,576                    |
| Jammu And Kashmir                 | 675,772                   | 1,657,689                | 1,79,861               | 74,361                    |
| Jharkhand                         | 5,054,586                 | 11,372,567               | 17,05,605              | 1,36,068                  |
| Karnataka                         | 8,471,865                 | 18,534,623               | 34,47,129              | 1,35,145                  |
| Kerala                            | 2,003,172                 | 8,910,820                | 10,96,964              | 15,573                    |
| Ladakh                            | 22,692                    | 46,318                   | 5,315                  | 1,434                     |
| Lakshadweep                       | 5,077                     | 15,338                   | 2,162                  | 21                        |
| Madhya Pradesh                    | 10,777,615                | 28,342,910               | 34,14,581              | 1,79,447                  |
| Maharashtra                       | 12,812,279                | 30,003,121               | 53,98,764              | 6,07,436                  |
| Manipur                           | 185,888                   | 423,752                  | 49,862                 | 5,791                     |
| Meghalaya                         | 352,427                   | 681,239                  | 54,444                 | 5,758                     |
| Mizoram                           | 237,374                   | 378,644                  | 18,811                 | 1,157                     |
| Nagaland                          | 163,297                   | 372,781                  | 29,945                 | 4,971                     |
| Odisha                            | 6,303,133                 | 16,479,788               | 21,27,315              | 1,85,574                  |
| Puducherry UT                     | 155,835                   | 388,877                  | 80,226                 | 5,910                     |
| Punjab                            | 3,338,133                 | 10,129,780               | 16,88,732              | 58,506                    |
| Rajasthan                         | 8,517,813                 | 20,463,128               | 30,90,847              | 1,30,055                  |
| Sikkim                            | 106,384                   | 215,362                  | 33,635                 | 326                       |
| Tamil Nadu                        | 7,223,941                 | 19,132,733               | 39,64,841              | 67,454                    |
| Telangana                         | 6,313,523                 | 14,133,537               | 19,26,898              | 42,393                    |
| Tripura                           | 389,864                   | 1,114,307                | 1,94,935               | 33,289                    |
| Uttar Pradesh                     | 19,399,033                | 56,367,271               | 96,62,270              | 6,74,799                  |
| Uttarakhand                       | 1,190,629                 | 4,064,684                | 6,59,821               | 39,239                    |
| West Bengal                       | 9,058,877                 | 25,360,362               | 44,54,592              | 1,12,854                  |
| Others *                          | 38,456,132                | 35,916,806               | -                      | -                         |

* Indicates enrollments under erstwhile existing schemes which were clubbed under PMJJBY or PMSBY   Schemes and those enrolled by Rural Cooperative Banks & Urban Cooperative Banks.

Details  of  cumulative  enrollments  under  above-mentioned  Social  Security  Schemes  in  Sonipat Constituency are given as under:

| Constituency               | District                   | PMJJBY as on 15.11.2023   | PMSBY as on 15.11.2023   | PM-SYM as on 05.12.2023   |
|----------------------------|----------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------|---------------------------|
| Sonipat                    | Jind                       | 1,46,384                  | 3,34,543                 | 58,624                    |
|                            | Sonipat                    | 1,83,375                  | 4,93,366                 | 34,046                    |
| Sonipat Constituency Total | Sonipat Constituency Total | 3,29,759                  | 8,27,909                 | 92,670                    |