​All in one: on the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana scheme

The Hindu

3 days ago

The Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PMDDKY), a scheme approved by the Union Cabinet, is to be implemented through the convergence of 36 existing schemes across 11 Departments. According to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the scheme seeks to address the 'disparities in productivity' between States, and even among districts within a State. The Centre's pet schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) and the PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) as well as relevant State schemes, to be identified by the District Dhan Dhaanya Samitis, will be subsumed in the PMDDKY. Local partnerships with the private sector will also be promoted under the proposed scheme, which will begin in October during the rabi crop season. The scheme is to get an annual outlay of ₹24,000 crore for six years. Modelled on NITI Aayog's Aspirational Districts Programme, the Centre will identify 100 districts based on low productivity and cropping intensity and less credit disbursement. The hope is that the scheme will result in higher productivity, value addition in agriculture and allied sectors, local livelihood creation, leading to increased domestic production and self-reliance. This convergence of schemes must be viewed in the background of decreasing public spending on agriculture. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, in the latest report on Demands for Grants, had observed a continuous decline, from 3.53% in 2021-22 to 3.14% (2022-23), 2.57% (2023-24), 2.54% (2024-25) and 2.51% (2025-26), of the allocations for agriculture as a percentage of total Central Plan outlay.
This aggregation of all schemes under one umbrella suggests that the Government wants uniformity in running the welfare, financial and technical schemes in the agriculture sector. It is keen to add States' measures too in the new scheme. It remains to be seen how effective such uniformity will be on the ground as further decrease in public investment in agriculture could be disastrous. Private-public partnerships should be for the larger good of self-reliance, particularly in the production of foodgrains, edible oil and pulses. The progress of area coverage under kharif crops, released last week, points to a decrease in the sowing of oil seeds and popular pulses. Though it promotes national uniformity, it is welcome that the new scheme will function based on 'District Plans' that will be aligned to the national goals of crop diversification, conservation of water and soil health, self-sufficiency in agriculture and allied sectors. For the PMDDKY, the Centre will monitor 117 key indicators of progress on a monthly basis. But to make it more participatory, States, local self governments, primary agriculture cooperative societies, agriculture universities and organisations of farmers and traders must be involved in this process.