Sanguem
Hundreds of farmers cultivating tenanted farmland and plantations in Sanguem taluka have thanked Member of Parliament Sadanand Shet Tanavade for raising their concerns in the Rajya Sabha and urging the Centre to extend the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme to tenant farmers in Goa.
Farmers said that at present, only those who own land are eligible for the scheme. Applicants must be landowners with an agricultural card. If the land is still in the name of a deceased father, even if the wife or children are cultivating it and hold agricultural cards, they are not eligible.
Similarly, tenant farmers, despite being registered, are excluded from the scheme. As a result, many genuine farmers are left out.
The PM-KISAN scheme has improved the lives of farmers across the country. However, due to land ownership conditions, many farmers in Goa are unable to benefit. Of the around 52,000 cultivating farmers in the state, only about 6,000 receive assistance due to lack of ownership records, Tanavade said.
Under the Goa Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964, tenant farmers have cultivation rights similar to landowners and are treated as deemed owners. Tanavade also informed Parliament that over 20,000 farmers in Goa are registered as tenants or their heirs.
More than 80 per cent of farmers in Goa are small and marginal. The annual assistance of Rs 6,000 would help them buy seeds and meet other farming expenses. There is growing demand for the scheme to be amended to include tenant farmers and those cultivating land in the name of deceased parents, provided they hold agricultural cards in their own names.
