Udupi : Kota Srinivas Poojary, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP, on Saturday, August 3, directed officials concerned to facilitate 17,108 farmers who are left out of the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to receive its benefits in Udupi district.

Chairing a meeting to review the implementation of Centrally-sponsored schemes at his office in Manipal-Udupi, Mr. Poojary noted that out of 1,79,452 farmer applicants for the scheme, 1,62,344 were getting Rs. 6,000 a year in installments under direct benefit transfer. Officials should ensure the remaining 17,108 applicants get the benefit too, he said.

The MP further noted Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has agreed to his request to extend the last date for enrolment into Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana for a month, till August. Officials should inform farmers about this extension and ensure the maximum number of farmers can avail the benefits of the crop insurance scheme.

Mr. Poojary told the officials to ensure all the applicants for the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Scheme get their benefits by offering them Rs.1 lakh loan at the rate of 5% interest to undertake self-employment works. While 14,756 people had made applications, the local administrations had recommended 12,394 applications to the district committee, the district committee recommended 7,233 applications to the State committee and the State committee had approved 6,324 applications. The district committee should process the remaining applications and ensure all applicants get the benefit.

The MP also directed the Lead Bank to ask commercial banks not to demand interest at a 12% rate from beneficiaries as the Central government would bear 7% interest. It was enough if the agreement was made on a ₹500 stamp paper and banks should not demand it on Rs.2,500 paper, he said.

He also asked officials to create awareness among people about the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar scheme wherein rooftop solar power production units would be installed at subsidised cost to enable beneficiaries to get free power. Officials should ensure all the Central schemes were implemented in the district.

Industries Department joint director Nagaraj V. Nayak, Agriculture Department joint director Seetha, and others were present.