U’khand to launch pension scheme for farmers on I-Day

As per the Government Order issued on August 4, the scheme will only cover farmers who are above 60 years of age, do not get benefits from other pension schemes and own up to 2 hectares of land. The selected farmers will be given Rs 800 every month, on the lines of the pensions given to the elderly or physically-challenged.

Another important criterion for a beneficiary is that he/she must continue to farm on his/her field. “If they stop doing agriculture on their field, their names would be dropped from the list,” a government source said.

The state government has, meanwhile, made arrangements to send the beneficiaries SMS alerts informing them that the money has been deposited into accounts. “Since Chief Minister (Harish) Rawat is personally monitoring this scheme, we do not want to leave anything to chance,” a government source said.

“…If the government successfully implements this scheme, the Congress would be in position to extract maximum political benefits out of this initiative in the hill parts,” a Congress source said.