Lok Sabha Question No. 178 (STARRED), answered on 2023-08-01
Subject: Kisan Call Centres
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Ravneet Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK   SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 178

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 1 st  AUGUST, 2023

## KISAN CALL CENTRES

- *178. SHRI RAVNEET SINGH BITTU:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी

be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is considering to revamp Kisan Call Centres to sort out farm issues and if so, the details thereof; (b) the total calls received, attended to and unanswered in these centres during the last three years, year-wise; (c) the likely benefits to accrue to the farmers by the implementation of the changes in the functioning of the said centres; (d) whether the Government is taking any measures to increase the reach of DD KISAN, the dedicated TV Channel for farmers; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

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

## STATEMENT IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION  NO.  178  DUE  FOR  ANSWER  ON  01.08.2023  REGARDING  'KISAN CALL CENTRES'

- (a): Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has decided to revamp Kisan Call Centres by using advanced  information and  communication  technologies for providing contextually relevant and customized technical solutions to the queries of farmers related to agriculture and allied subjects. This includes advanced communication tools like chatbot, video calling, two-way video/audio clips, two-way SMS,  Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML)  based  Decision  Support Systems (DSS) and interaction with conversational tools such as chatbot, to support real time response to farmers' queries.
- (b): The total calls received, attended to and unanswered in Kisan Call Centres during last three years, year-wise is provided as under:

(Nos. in Lakhs)

| Year    |   Total Calls received |   Answered Calls |   Unanswered Calls |
|---------|------------------------|------------------|--------------------|
| 2020-21 |                  58.38 |            54.74 |               3.64 |
| 2021-22 |                  47.87 |            45.81 |               2.06 |
| 2022-23 |                  35.22 |            33.53 |               1.69 |

(c): The  likely  benefits  to  accrue  to  the  farmers  by  the  implementation  of  the changes in the functioning of the Kisan Call Centers are;

- I. Farmers can get real-time customized technical solutions to queries/problems by receiving farm advisories through the voice tech tools/features during crop growing seasons with customized voice messages and audio and video clips related  to  technologies,  pest  &  disease  control,  market  intelligence  and weather information.
- II. Farmers can send photographs of field problems and make video calls with the  Farm  Tele  Advisors  (FTAs)  at  KCC  and  get  solutions  for  their  field problems.
- III. Farmers  can  get  information  about  various  schemes/programmes  run  by Central, State and UT Governments for the benefit of farmers and express the issues and problems related to the schemes/programmes.

(d) & (e): DD Kisan, a 24x7 satellite TV Channel of Prasar Bharati, is exclusively dedicated to the farmers and the agriculture sector. The objective of this channel is to serve and educate farmers and build their capacity for using new technologies in their  activities  and  taking  its  reach  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  country.  The programmes of DD Kisan are designed to inform and educate the rural populace and work towards creating a holistic environment for sustainable and inclusive growth. 3 programmes namely Krishi Darshan (30 minutes) (5.30 - 6.00 PM), Hello Kisan (60 minutes) (6.00 - 7.00 PM) and Choupal  Churcha (30 minutes) (9.00 - 9.30 AM) (05 days a week) on DD Kisan dedicated to farmers.

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