THE Centre has approved the continuation of the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) scheme during the 15th Finance Commission cycle up to 2025-26. PM-AASHA is a larger programme which integrates Price Support Scheme (PSS), Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS), Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) and Price Stabilisation Funds (PSF).
These are aimed at providing remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce and also controlling price volatility of essential commodities by ensuring their availability at affordable prices to consumers.
Through its continuation, the Government hopes that there will be more effectiveness in the implementation of procurement operations. While the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare (DA&FW) administers PSS, PDPS and MIS, the Department of Consumer Affairs administers PSF.
In the Union Budget 2025-26, PMAASHA was pegged at Rs 6,941.36 crore, an increase of 7.8 per cent from Revised Estimates of 2024-25. Meanwhile, in an effort to target high procurement of pulses, the Union Government allowed the procurement of tur (pigeon pea), urad (black gram) and masoor (red lentil) under PSS equivalent to 100 per cent of the production for the procurement year 2024-25.
This procurement will be continued for another four years through Central nodal agencies “to achieve selfsufficiency in pulses in the country”, a Government statement said. In the budget, the government allocated Rs 500 crore for ‘mission on pulses’, aimed at reducing import dependency in pulses with special attention on to warehousing solutions apart from procurement of tur, urad and masoor.
In other announcements, the government approved the procurement of soyabean under PSS in the states of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Telangana for Kharif 2024- 25. A quantity of 1.99 million tonnes of soyabean has been procured till February 9, 2025 it informed.
