Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Committed to increasing the income of farmers in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government is providing support to farmers and their families under the CM Farmer Accident Welfare Scheme, offering assistance up to Rs 5 lakh.
The government is extending the benefits of the scheme not only to farmers’ families but also to leaseholders and sharecroppers.
It is noteworthy that under the scheme, started by the Chief Minister in 2019, immediate assistance of up to Rs 5 lakh is being given by the District Magistrate in case of accidental death or disability of the farmers of the state.
It is worth mentioning that until 2017, farmers relied on general insurance and had to struggle to avail of its benefits.
However, the Yogi Adityanath government has undertaken various initiatives to empower farmers in the state, including the CM Farmer Accident Welfare Scheme.
Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Sudhir Garg said that the Chief Minister had started this scheme to provide immediate assistance to the farmers of the state in emergency situations. The responsibility of running this scheme has been given to the district magistrates, so that there is no delay in providing assistance.
He added that previously, farmers had to rely on insurance, causing them considerable inconvenience. However, under this scheme, farmers are now receiving immediate relief.
Garg mentioned that, on the instructions of CM Yogi Adityanath, efforts have been made to include every member of a farmer’s family in the scheme if their income is entirely dependent on agriculture. Besides, leaseholders and sharecroppers will also benefit from the scheme.
He informed that an amount of Rs 650 crore was allocated in the year 2022-23 under the scheme, benefiting 15,231 people in the state.
Similarly, in the years 2023-24, the government released a fund of Rs 750 crore for the scheme, out of which more than Rs 706 crore has been allocated to the district magistrates. More than 15,000 people are likely to benefit from this.
Revenue Secretary GS Naveen said that to avail themselves of the benefits of the CM Farmer Accident Welfare Scheme, the beneficiaries currently need to apply manually in the District Magistrate’s office. Therefore, following the Chief Minister’s directives, a user-friendly web portal and software have been prepared to make the scheme more transparent and accessible for beneficiaries. The testing of this system is currently underway, and it will soon be handed over to the public.
He said that farmers or their family members will not have to visit any office to avail the benefits of the scheme after the launch of the portal. They will be able to submit their application online to avail themselves of the benefits of the scheme while sitting at home.
The government aims to provide financial assistance to farmers and their families quickly and with complete transparency.
(With inputs from ANI)
