Published Sep 10, 2026 | 4:35 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 10, 2026 | 4:35 PM
A farmer is spreading fertiliser in his field. (iStock)
Synopsis: The Kerala Farmers’ Welfare Fund Act, launched in 2019 to provide farmers with pension and other social-security benefits, is now nearing its first pension beneficiaries, but the scheme governing the benefits is still awaiting government approval. With over 12,000 farmers enrolled and pension eligibility beginning in December 2026, the new UDF government has constituted a four-member committee to review the scheme, including the possibility of restructuring or merging it with another welfare programme.
Nearly seven years after the Kerala Farmers’ Welfare Fund Act was brought into force with the promise of a dedicated social security system for farmers, the welfare scheme at the heart of the law is yet to get the government’s approval.
The delay assumes greater significance now, with more than 12,000 farmers already enrolled in the Welfare Fund Board and a group of members set to become eligible for pension from December 2026.
The Agriculture Department has already prepared and submitted a draft scheme, but it remains pending with the government.
In the absence of an approved scheme, key questions over the pension—including the rate, mode of payment and mechanism for disbursal—remain unanswered.
Yet, under the Act, farmers completing five years of membership and attaining 60 years of age are due to become eligible for the benefit.
The result is an unusual situation: a pension provision is nearing its first beneficiaries even as the framework governing that pension is still awaiting approval.
The LDF government had enacted the Kerala Farmers’ Welfare Fund Act in 2019, providing for a dedicated welfare fund for farmers in the state. The legislation envisaged pension and other financial assistance for farmers and encouraging younger people to take up agriculture.
Under Section 3 of the Act, the government is required to frame and notify the Kerala Farmers’ Welfare Fund Scheme.
A draft scheme prepared by the Director of the Department of Agriculture Development and Farmers’ Welfare was subsequently submitted to the Left government. However, the scheme is yet to receive the required approval.
The issue has assumed urgency as farmers who joined the fund at the beginning of the programme will complete five years of membership in December 2026.
Section 4 of the Act provides for pension to members who have contributed to the welfare fund for at least five years and have completed 60 years of age. The pension is to be fixed on the basis of the contribution made by the farmer and the number of years for which the contribution was remitted, in accordance with the scheme.
Around 12,250 people have currently completed the registration and other formalities to become members of the Welfare Fund Board, according to the figures available with the board.
Since contributions are already being collected from members, the government will have to meet the pension liability once eligible members cross the five-year threshold and attain the age of 60. But in the absence of an approved scheme, neither the pension rate nor the method for calculating the benefit has been finalised.
This has put the board in a difficult position, with farmers seeking clarity on the pension they can expect after years of contributions.
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The uncertainty has its roots in an earlier dispute over the proposed pension structure.
The farmers’ welfare scheme, launched in 2021, had envisaged a maximum monthly pension of ₹5,000.
Farmers who completed five years of contributions and reached the age of 60 were to become eligible for the pension, with the maximum benefit linked to the contribution made.
However, the Finance Department subsequently questioned the proposal, maintaining that a pension of ₹5,000 after only five years of contribution was “not desirable”.
In a note sent to the Agriculture Department, the Finance Department suggested that the farmers’ pension be brought closer to the government’s social welfare pension, then proposed at ₹2,000, with the benefit worked out proportionately.
The Welfare Fund Board later sought a reconsideration of the Finance Department’s position, but no final decision has emerged.
There is consequently no clarity even within the board on whether the original ₹5,000 ceiling will remain, or what the revised pension formula would look like.
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The uncertainty over the pension has also affected the expansion of the welfare fund.
The government had set an ambitious target of enrolling 20 lakh farmers. Yet membership has remained far below that level.
Registration began in December 2021, following the constitution of the Farmers’ Welfare Fund Board in October 2020.
The scheme provides for a minimum monthly contribution of ₹100 from farmers, with the government contributing a matching amount of up to ₹250 a month. The pension is to be linked to both the contribution and the period of membership.
Farmers owning between five cents and 15 acres of land and having at least three years of experience in farming are eligible to join, subject to an annual income ceiling of ₹5 lakh.
The scheme promises 11 categories of benefits, including pension, marriage and educational assistance, maternity benefits, housing loans at concessional interest rates, disability assistance, insurance and benefits to dependants after the death of a member.
But the amounts and conditions attached to several of these benefits also require government approval, leaving the board unable to provide definitive answers to prospective members.
The delay is particularly significant because the five-year contribution requirement, which was initially seen as a safeguard for the fund’s finances, has now become the immediate trigger for government liability.
The Agriculture Department has approached the Finance Department several times seeking a decision on the pension and other benefits to be administered through the board. The file, however, has remained pending.
For farmers who have been contributing to the fund with the expectation of receiving a pension after turning 60, the issue is no longer about a future promise. The first eligibility date is now only months away.
Unless the government settles the pension formula and formally approves the welfare fund scheme before then, the board could face the prospect of having eligible members but no clearly defined pension to disburse.
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Meanwhile, the UDF government is weighing a major overhaul of the Kerala Farmers Welfare Fund Scheme, with the Agriculture Department flagging the need to examine whether the scheme should continue in its present form or be merged with another existing welfare programme.
Agriculture Department Special Secretary Subash T.V IAS, is learnt to have brought the matter to the government’s attention.
The scheme has not yet received the required government approval, making it difficult to determine the structure of the pension, including the rate at which it should be paid and the manner in which it should be disbursed.
Following a detailed examination of the issue, the government has now constituted a four-member committee to undertake a comprehensive review of the scheme and submit its recommendations within a month.
The committee will be headed by the Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Department and Agricultural Production Commissioner. The Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department; Secretary, Law Department; and Director, Agriculture Development and Farmers Welfare Department are the other members.
The committee has been tasked with examining whether the Farmers Welfare Fund Scheme can be continued in its existing form and assessing the feasibility of merging it with any other suitable welfare scheme. It has also been asked to study all aspects concerning the continuation of the scheme and submit clear recommendations to the government.
(Edited by Fayisa CA)
