RAS question
Kisan Credit Card (KCC) provides:
Correct answer: (B) Credit for crop production, post-harvest, and consumption needs.
The Kisan Credit Card provides farmers with timely credit for crop production, post-harvest expenses, household consumption needs, farm-asset maintenance and allied agricultural activities.
Explanation
Kisan Credit Card is a credit instrument, not an insurance, input-distribution or subsidy scheme. The official PIB release says the scheme aims to give farmers adequate and timely credit support through the banking system under a single-window, flexible procedure. Its coverage includes short-term credit for cultivation of crops, post-harvest expenses, produce marketing loans, household consumption requirements, working capital for maintaining farm assets and activities allied to agriculture, and investment credit for agriculture and allied activities. Option B is correct because it captures crop production, post-harvest and consumption needs. PIB also notes that the KCC facility was extended in 2019 to farmers engaged in animal husbandry and fisheries for working-capital requirements.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Crop insurance has a different purpose; PIB frames KCC as a credit-support scheme for cultivation and other farm-related needs.
- (C) The scheme does not provide free fertilisers; it provides access to credit from the banking system for specified agricultural and allied requirements.
- (D) A seed subsidy is different from KCC, which supports farmers through loans for cultivation, post-harvest, consumption and allied activity needs.
Concept
This tests agricultural credit under Indian Economy, especially how institutional credit schemes support farm working capital. It recurs in RAS because KCC links banking, farmer welfare and rural-sector policy in one standard scheme.