Govt to launch WINDS Manual, Kisan Rin Portal, door-to-door Kisan Credit Card campaign on Tuesday

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will inaugurate the Kisan Rin Portal, a door-to-door Kisan Credit Card (KCC) campaign and a manual of the Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) on Tuesday. The Kisan Rin Portal, a door-to-door Kisan Credit Card (KCC) campaign are aimed towards helping farmers avail subsidised loans.

According to the agriculture ministry, the Kisan Rin digital platform offers a comprehensive view of farmer data, loan disbursement specifics, interest subvention claims, and scheme utilisation progress, fostering seamless integration with banks for more focused and efficient agriculture credit.

There are about 7.35 crore KCC accounts as of March 30 with a total sanctioned limit of Rs 8.85 lakh crore, it said in a statement.

As per the official data, the government has disbursed agri-credit of Rs 6,573.50 crore at subsidised interest rate during April-August this fiscal.To extend the benefits of KCC, the door-to-door campaign will reach non-KCC holders of beneficiaries of the central scheme PM-KISAN, under which Rs 6,000 per annum is given to each identified beneficiary farmer's bank account.

In the case of the WIND portal, the ministry said the manual extends the impact of the Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) initiative.

The portal — launched in July — leverages advanced weather data analytics to provide stakeholders with actionable insights on weather for informed decision-making in agriculture.

This comprehensive manual also provides stakeholders with an in-depth understanding of the portal's functionalities, data interpretation, and effective utilisation, empowering farmers, policymakers and various agricultural entities to make well-informed choices.

It also caters to the parametric crop insurance scheme of the ministry, in addition to non-scheme parametric insurance programmes for crop risk mitigation and disaster risk reduction and mitigation being run by the insurance industry, the statement said.

Key farmer initiatives being launched and their benefits —

Kisan Rin Portal (KRP)

The Kisan Rin Portal (KRP), developed in collaboration with multiple government departments, is poised to revolutionize access to credit services under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC). As per the official release, this digital platform offers a comprehensive view of farmer data, loan disbursement specifics, interest subvention claims, and scheme utilization progress, fostering seamless integration with banks for more focused and efficient agriculture credit.

Ghar-Ghar KCC Abhiyaan: Door-to-door KCC Campaign

The event marks the beginning of the "Ghar Ghar KCC Abhiyaan," an ambitious campaign to extend the benefits of the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme to every farmer across India. This campaign aims to achieve universal financial inclusion, ensuring that every farmer has unhindered access to credit facilities that drive their agricultural pursuits. This campaign will play a pivotal role in reaching out to non-KCC account holder PM KISAN beneficiaries and fostering the saturation of KCC Accounts among eligible PM Kisan beneficiary farmers. Total number of operative KCC Accounts as on March 2023 are 7.35 Crores with total sanctioned limit of Rs. 8.85 lakh crores.

For KCC Ghar Ghar Abhiyaan, NABARD has been identified as the Primary Executing Organization, vested with the responsibility of overall execution and monitoring of the programme. In this regard, NABARD has taken the initiative to develop a portal to facilitate in monitoring the conduct of saturation drive camps in the field as also processing and issuance of KCCs to all eligible PM Kisan beneficiaries by the respective banks.

Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) Manual

The WINDS Manual, set to be unveiled during the event, extends the impact of the Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) initiative. The WINDS system, an instrumental innovation, leverages advanced weather data analytics to provide stakeholders with actionable insights on weather. This comprehensive manual also provides stakeholders with an in-depth understanding of the portal's functionalities, data interpretation, and effective utilization, empowering farmers, policymakers, and various agricultural entities to make well-informed choices.

It also caters to parametric crop insurance scheme of DA&FW in addition to non-scheme parametric insurance programmes for crop risk mitigation and disaster risk reduction and mitigation being run by the Insurance industry. It serves as a guide to understand the processes to be undertaken by the States & UTs for establishing and integrating with the WINDS platform, maintaining transparent and objective data observation and transmission and offering practical insights into leveraging weather data for improved crop management, resource allocation, and risk mitigation.