Too many schemes, too little sense!

PHERAN DIARIES – 12

Dr Sanjay Parva

A study in the Jammu region found 76% of farmers had no knowledge of Kisan Call Centres, crucial support services meant to guide scheme access. About PMFBY – Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana:

1. 46% of farmers weren’t aware of the scheme.

2. 28% reported bad experiences with it.

3. 23% had only heard negative reports, decreasing enrolment.

Nationwide PMFBY awareness rose from ~70% to 82% after awareness campaigns. However, region-specific breakdowns show J&K still lagging behind many states. The only known fact about scores of schemes is that farmers are overwhelmed by schemes overload. Let’s see how many are there.

Rough Totals by Sector

Sector Central Schemes UT specific Schemes Approx. Subtotal

Agriculture (crop, irrigation, insurance, organic farming) ~20–25 ~10–15 ~30–40

Horticulture ~3–5 ~5–10 ~10–15

Animal / Sheep Husbandry ~5–8 ~5–8 ~10–16

Fisheries / Sericulture ~2–4 Possibly 2–5 ~3–8

Total Estimated – – ~60 to 80+ schemes

Central Government Schemes (applicable to J&K via UT or State nodal agencies)

From NIRDPR listings, there are at least 40–50 major central-level agriculture & allied schemes, including flagship missions like:

• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)

• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

• PM Kisan Samman Nidhi

• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana

• National Livestock Mission, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, Blue Revolution, Soil Health Card, Dairy Entrepreneurship, Fisheries Development, AYUSH & Medicinal Plants support, etc.

UT‐specific and State-adapted Schemes

• J&K Agriculture Production Dept runs ~10–15 schemes under HADP (Holistic Agri Dev Program), micro-irrigation, apiculture, mushroom, village seed banks, agri-business ventures, rooftop rainwater harvesting, farm machinery banks, etc.

• Animal & Sheep Husbandry Dept: at least 3–5 schemes like HADP dairy & poultry, private paravet training, mini sheep farms, fodder development.

• Horticulture Dept: operates ~5–10 sectoral schemes, including high-density orchards, cold storage support, marketing, nurseries, etc.

Among all these are schemes that overlap with each other from different departments, have confusing channels, and thus low impact. In all, the average Kashmiri farmer is drowning – not in water for his fields, but in a flood of schemes. There are schemes for seeds, soil health, fertiliser, irrigation, vermicompost, cold storage, solar pumps, FPOs, high-density crops – all from different departments.

None speak the same language. None follow the same process. All ask for paperwork.

Each scheme sounds impressive. Each scheme is showcased in PowerPoint presentations. But when a farmer visits the department office, the file is either “under process” or “under dust.” There is a lot of duplication, little delivery.

Horticulture Department promotes high-density apple plantation. SKUAST gives the same under a different scheme. Agriculture Department offers it again in the name of “crop diversification.”

Which one should the farmer believe? And more importantly, which one will actually deliver?

This confusion has bred an ecosystem of middlemen. They charge good money to fill forms.

Because even educated youth find it hard to understand these schemes. The scheme feeds the agent, not the farmer.

Every scheme gets a banner, a launch, a ministerial tweet. But no one tracks:

• Who received the benefit?

• Was the target met?

• Did farmer income increase?

Try asking for RTI data on actual beneficiaries. You’ll see the gaps. Each department runs parallel schemes to justify its own budget. Not to serve the farmer, but to secure the next tranche of funds.

Budget utilization becomes the goal, not farmer transformation.

Farmers must run from agriculture to horticulture, to soil testing, to fisheries, to sericulture, to veterinary. Each has its own portal, rules, language, and gatekeeper. Result? Time lost. Crop lost. Hope lost. Most schemes are announced in English, discussed in Urdu, and explained poorly in the local dialect. The farmer neither understands the eligibility nor the disbursal mechanism. In many cases, even field officers are unclear.

The farmer doesn’t ask for much. He wants water, quality seed, crop insurance, and a guaranteed buyer. Not a seminar on “smart farming for sustainable livelihoods” in a luxury hotel. This nonsense must stop. We will prosper that way. And that is the only way. But you may ask, what must be Call for Action. Here:

1. Create a Unified Agri Scheme Portal – one login, one language, one dashboard.

2. Audit Scheme Effectiveness – publish real-time data on delivery.

3. Eliminate Overlapping Schemes – focus on core deliverables.

4. Train Field Officers – make them scheme translators, not scheme clerks. Do it on fields in presence of farmers, not offices.

5. Quarterly Farmer Scorecard by departments: what did they deliver, and where?

6. KPI-linked budgets: no delivery = no next year’s fund.

This writer is a communications strategist, and was a debut contestant in 2024 Assembly elections. Views expressed in this column are personal. Email: [email protected]