Mukhya Mantri Krishi Sa Sajuli Yojana (MMKSSY), Assam

What is Mukhya Mantri Krishi Sa Sajuli Yojana?

Mukhya Mantri Krishi Sa Sajuli Yojana (MMKSSY) is a state scheme of the Government of Assam, launched in 2018-19 and run by the Directorate of Agriculture. The scheme puts a subsidised set of farm tools and implements into the hands of small and marginal farmers, so that a farming household owns the basic equipment it needs rather than hiring it or borrowing it at the peak of a season.

According to the Directorate of Agriculture, the scheme aims "to promote farm mechanization for the cultivation of the different crop" and to raise productivity through scientific farming practices. Its stated purposes are to increase rural incomes and to cut the labour cost and the time a farming family spends on operations that a proper implement does faster. The name itself carries the idea; sa-sajuli in Assamese refers to equipment and gear, so the scheme is literally the Chief Minister's farm-equipment programme.

The scheme sits alongside larger mechanisation programmes in Assam such as the Chief Minister's Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana (CMSGUY) tractor scheme, but it addresses a different tier of need. A tractor is beyond a marginal farmer with half a hectare. A set of well-made hand and small-power implements is not, and it is the level at which most Assam farmers actually operate.

Main features

• A state scheme of the Directorate of Agriculture, Assam, since 2018-19.
• Provides a subsidised farm tool and implement kit to selected farmers.
• Targeted at small and marginal farmers, not large landholders.
• One member per family may be selected.
• Offline application, using the form published in Assamese and English on diragri.assam.gov.in.
• Requires three consecutive years of actual cultivation, so the benefit reaches working farmers rather than nominal landholders.

Who is eligible for Mukhya Mantri Krishi Sa Sajuli Yojana?

The Directorate of Agriculture publishes a specific list of conditions for this scheme, and they are unusually concrete for a state agriculture programme.

You can apply if:

• You are a small or marginal farmer. The scheme is targeted at that group and the land record decides your classification.
• You are 21 years of age or above.
• You are a resident of Assam.
• You have actively farmed for at least three consecutive years. This is the condition that separates working cultivators from absentee landholders, and it needs certification from the Gaon Panchayat or the agriculture extension functionary.
• You hold a live bank account. An account that is operative, not dormant.
• You hold a Kisan Credit Card (KCC), or, if you farm as a tenant, you cultivate a minimum of one acre and can prove it.
• No other member of your family has already been selected under the scheme.

You cannot apply if:

• You are under 21 years of age.
• Your holding is too large to be classified as small or marginal under the norms the Directorate applies.
• You have not cultivated for three consecutive years, a person who recently inherited land and has not farmed it is not eligible on this criterion.
• You are not a resident of Assam.
• You have no live bank account, or the account is dormant and cannot receive a credit.
• You hold neither a Kisan Credit Card nor a qualifying tenancy of at least one acre.
• Another member of your family has already been selected. Only one per household qualifies, and a second claim is removed at verification.

There is no published income ceiling separate from the small-and-marginal classification. In practice the land record does the work that an income certificate does in other Assam schemes.

What documents are required?

How to apply for Mukhya Mantri Krishi Sa Sajuli Yojana

MMKSSY runs offline. The Directorate of Agriculture publishes the scheme advertisement, the application form in both Assamese and English, and the scheme guidelines as downloadable documents on its website, and the completed form goes to the agriculture office in your area.

1. Check for the current advertisement. Open diragri.assam.gov.in/schemes/mukhya-mantri-krishi-sa-sajuli-yozana and look for the scheme advertisement and the guidelines. The advertisement states the districts covered, the number of beneficiaries and the closing date for that cycle.
2. Download the application form in Assamese or English, whichever you are comfortable filling, and download the guidelines as well. Read the guidelines before filling the form. They carry the beneficiary contribution and the kit contents for the cycle. If you cannot download, collect a printed form from the Agricultural Development Officer at your circle office.
3. Get your certificate of three years of cultivation from the Gaon Panchayat, the Village Level Extension Worker or the Agricultural Development Officer. This takes time and is the item most applicants leave to the last day.
4. Collect the supporting documents; land record or tenancy proof, Kisan Credit Card, age proof, residence certificate, Aadhaar and bank passbook — and make a self-attested photocopy set.
5. Fill the form completely, in the same name spelling that appears on your land record and Aadhaar, and attach the documents.
6. Submit the application to the local agriculture office. The Agricultural Development Officer at the circle, or the District Agriculture Officer, as the advertisement directs. Take a dated receipt with an application number.
7. Cooperate with field verification. The extension staff will verify your holding, your cultivation history and whether any other family member has already been selected.
8. Collect the kit when the selection list is published and you are called to the distribution point, carrying your originals and the receipt.

The application form and the guidelines are free. No agent or middleman can add your name to the beneficiary list, and no official will ask you for money or for an OTP.

How to check where your application stands

There is no online tracking portal for this scheme, which makes the paper trail important.

1. Keep the dated receipt with the application number given at submission.
2. Follow up with the Agricultural Development Officer at your circle office, quoting that number. The circle office holds the working list.
3. Escalate to the District Agriculture Officer where the circle office has no answer.
4. Watch the notice board at the circle and district agriculture offices, and the Directorate's website, for the published selection list.

Why MMKSSY applications get rejected

• Holding too large to qualify as small or marginal under the applicable norms.
• Less than three consecutive years of cultivation, or no certificate to prove it.
• No Kisan Credit Card and no qualifying tenancy of at least one acre.
• Second application from the same family: only one member qualifies.
• Name mismatch between the land record, Aadhaar and the bank passbook. This is very common where land is still recorded in a father's or grandfather's name; get the record mutated or obtain a certificate linking the names.
• Dormant bank account that cannot receive a credit.
• Applied after the advertisement's closing date.
• Incomplete form. An unsigned form or a missing enclosure is treated as not submitted.

Two of these are worth fixing well before the next advertisement appears. Mutating the land record into the name of the person who actually farms it solves the largest single cause of rejection, and reactivating a dormant bank account takes one visit to the branch.

Where to get help

• Agricultural Development Officer (ADO) at your agriculture circle office. The first point of contact for the form, the cultivation certificate and the status of your application.
• District Agriculture Officer of your district, for escalation and for the selection list.
• Directorate of Agriculture, Government of Assam, diragri.assam.gov.in, which publishes the advertisement, the application forms in Assamese and English, and the scheme guidelines.
• Gaon Panchayat office, for the certification of continuous cultivation and for local verification.

Mukhya Mantri Krishi Sa Sajuli Yojana is a small-ticket scheme by rupee value and a large one by reach, because the conditions it sets; age 21, three years of real cultivation, a live account, a KCC or a one-acre tenancy, describe the ordinary working farmer of Assam rather than an exception. Before the next advertisement, get the cultivation certificate and the land record in order; the form itself takes an afternoon, but those two documents take weeks.