Government Schemes in News: May 2021 Current Affair | Additional Study Material for UPSC PDF Download

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85	 																																																																													
10.	GOVERNMENT	SCHEMES	IN	NEWS	
10.1.	PRADHAN	MANTRI	KISAN	SAMMAN	NIDHI	(PM-KISAN)	
Why in news? 
Recently the 8
th
 installment of financial benefit under PM-KISAN was released to beneficiary farmers. 
Objectives Key Features 
It aims to 
supplement 
the financial 
needs of all 
landholding 
farmers’ 
families in 
procuring 
various inputs 
to ensure 
proper crop 
health and 
appropriate 
yields, 
commensurate 
with the 
anticipated 
farm income 
as well as for 
domestic 
needs. 
• It is a central sector scheme with 100% funding from the Government of India. 
The scheme was launched in 2018. 
• Financial Aid: Under the Scheme an amount of INR 6000/- per year is released by the Central 
Government in 3 equal installments, every 4 months. 
Direct Benefit Transfer: The amount is transferred directly into the bank accounts of the eligible 
farmers, subject to certain exclusions. 
• Definition of farmer’s family: A farmer’s family is defined as “a family comprising of husband, a 
wife and minor child who owns cultivable land as per land records of the concerned State/UT.” 
• Exclusions:  
o All Institutional Land holders; 
o Farmer families with member(s) belonging to following categories : 
 
• Mandatory Aadhaar 
o Aadhaar is mandatory and payment is done on the basis of Aadhaar seeded data of 
beneficiaries only. 
ü Exceptions have been made for State/UTs of Assam, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir and 
Ladakh, till March, 2021. 
o Under the PM-KISAN Scheme, funds are not allocated and sanctioned State-wise. 
	
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85	 																																																																													
10.	GOVERNMENT	SCHEMES	IN	NEWS	
10.1.	PRADHAN	MANTRI	KISAN	SAMMAN	NIDHI	(PM-KISAN)	
Why in news? 
Recently the 8
th
 installment of financial benefit under PM-KISAN was released to beneficiary farmers. 
Objectives Key Features 
It aims to 
supplement 
the financial 
needs of all 
landholding 
farmers’ 
families in 
procuring 
various inputs 
to ensure 
proper crop 
health and 
appropriate 
yields, 
commensurate 
with the 
anticipated 
farm income 
as well as for 
domestic 
needs. 
• It is a central sector scheme with 100% funding from the Government of India. 
The scheme was launched in 2018. 
• Financial Aid: Under the Scheme an amount of INR 6000/- per year is released by the Central 
Government in 3 equal installments, every 4 months. 
Direct Benefit Transfer: The amount is transferred directly into the bank accounts of the eligible 
farmers, subject to certain exclusions. 
• Definition of farmer’s family: A farmer’s family is defined as “a family comprising of husband, a 
wife and minor child who owns cultivable land as per land records of the concerned State/UT.” 
• Exclusions:  
o All Institutional Land holders; 
o Farmer families with member(s) belonging to following categories : 
 
• Mandatory Aadhaar 
o Aadhaar is mandatory and payment is done on the basis of Aadhaar seeded data of 
beneficiaries only. 
ü Exceptions have been made for State/UTs of Assam, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir and 
Ladakh, till March, 2021. 
o Under the PM-KISAN Scheme, funds are not allocated and sanctioned State-wise. 
	
	
86	 																																																																											
10.2.	PRADHAN	MANTRI	UJJWALA	YOJANA		
Why in news?  
Recently, The Government is aiming to disburse 10 million more liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or cooking gas) 
connections to lower income households.   
Objectives  Intended Benefits  Salient Features  
• Launched in 2016 to 
provide free LPG 
connections to 
women from BPL 
households (scope 
extended now to 
cover all the poor 
households of the 
country).  
• To provide clean fuel 
to women 
• To prevent health 
related issues among 
the millions of rural 
populations due to 
use of fossil fuel. 
• To promote women 
empowerment. 
• It will help in 
reducing health 
disorders, air 
pollution and 
deforestation and 
prevent deaths 
among children and 
women due to 
chronic respiratory 
diseases.  
• It has provided a 
great boost to the 
‘Make in India’ 
campaign as all the 
manufacturers of 
cylinders, gas 
stoves, regulators, 
and gas hose are 
domestic. 
• It is being implemented by the Ministry of Petroleum and 
Natural Gas.  
• Under this, new beneficiaries will be those among holders 
of both ration cards and Aadhaar, who will identify 
themselves as poor through self-declaration. 
o Earlier, it was extended only to any Below Poverty Line 
(BPL) family, whose information is included in the 
district BPL list prepared by the State government. 
• The women applicant should have a saving bank account in 
any nationalized bank across the country to receive subsidy 
amount. 
• LPG Connection is released in the name of adult woman of 
the BPL Family, subject to the condition that no LPG 
connection exists in the name of any family member of the 
household. 
• The Central Government will provide financial support of Rs 
1600 for each LPG connection. 
• Consumers will have the option to purchase gas stove and 
refills on EMI (zero interest), recovered through LPG subsidy 
received by the beneficiary.