Prime Minister Narendra Modi commenced his historic third consecutive term on Monday by authorizing the release of the 17th installment of the PM-KISAN scheme, which aims to benefit 9.3 crore farmers with a disbursement of around Rs 20,000 crores.
Arriving at his office in South Block on the first morning after taking oath, PM Modi signed the file pertaining to the flagship scheme’s installment for farmers, underscoring his government’s commitment to their welfare.
After signing the file, PM Modi said, “Ours is a Government fully committed to Kisan Kalyan. It is therefore fitting that the first file signed on taking charge is related to farmer welfare. We want to keep working even more for the farmers and the agriculture sector in the times to come.”
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, launched in 2019, provides financial assistance of Rs 6,000 annually in three equal installments to eligible landholding farmer families across the country. Over Rs 2.42 lakh crore have already been disbursed to more than 11 crore beneficiaries through various installments.
Meanwhile, the first assignment for India’s foreign policy under the historic third consecutive term of PM Modi will begin at the meeting of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) Foreign Ministers beginning in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod on Monday.
The two-day meeting, chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, precedes the BRICS Summit scheduled for October. Last year, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar represented India at the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting in South Africa’s Cape Town, and he is likely to participate again this year.
Within the framework of the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, a separate meeting will also be held with the participation of a number of countries from the Global South and East.
“During the upcoming meetings, the parties plan to discuss current issues of international relations, international agenda, improvement of the global governance system with emphasis on strengthening the role of developing countries, conflict resolution, and interaction in leading multilateral platforms,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, state media TASS reported.
The meetings are expected to address current geopolitical issues and improve the global governance system, emphasizing the increased role of developing countries. The outcomes will feed into the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in October.
This is the first meeting of foreign ministers since the expansion of BRICS in 2023.
The 10 full members of the association include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa with new members Egypt, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia joining the grouping in 2023.
Russia took over the chairmanship of BRICS on January 1, 2024.
(Inputs from ANI)