A scheme, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the central budget to provide Rs 6,000 input assistance per annum to farmers, received poor response from its beneficiary across the state. Out of 70 lakh eligible beneficiaries, hardly 2 lakh have registered for the scheme.
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel had said that Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sanman Nidhi scheme has a large base of registered beneficiaries in the state. However, the farmers in Saurashtra region have not registered for the scheme.
As per records given by the state's Agriculture Department, only 1.68 lakh farmers had registered till February 12. The highest registration was made by farmers from Sabarkantha (17,199 applications), followed by Ahmedabad (12,520)applications and Tapi (10,150).