Pmkisan government scheme

UP tops in PM-KISAN scheme implementation

Soni sir

Uttar Pradesh has topped in the implementation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme with a total payout of more than Rs 10,000 crore to the beneficiary farmers.

Since the scheme was launched, nearly Rs 36,000 crore have so far been transferred to farmers’ bank accounts across India. In UP, payment of Rs 10,000 crore has been made to the bank accounts of farmers and comprises nearly 28 per cent of the total disbursal.

Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi said the total number of beneficiaries under PM-KISAN scheme was likely to touch 2.9 crore-mark against the current estimate of 2.3 crore farmers, by 2021.

Shahi said that so far, the data of 1.83 crore farmers in the state had already been forwarded to the Centre under the scheme, out of which over 1.7 crore farmers had received payments. He further said that the process of enrolling beneficiaries and ensuring payment to the left out beneficiaries was underway.

The PM-KISAN entitles beneficiaries to payment of Rs 6,000 annually, payable in equal instalment of Rs 2,000 every four months (December, March, April-July and August-November cycles).

Shahi said that 1.73 crore  farmers had received Rs 3,458 crore as the first instalment and the corresponding figure for second, third and fourth instalments stood at 1.6 crore farmers and Rs 3,187 crore; 1.25 crore farmers and Rs 2,494 crore; and 52 lakh farmers and Rs 1,052 crore, respectively.

Earlier this month, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had informed the Rajya Sabha that around 7.6 crore farmers in India had been given benefit under PM-KISAN scheme till November 30.

Initially, the PM-KISAN scheme had targeted to benefit 12 crore small and marginal farmers, of which UP topped with 2.15 crore or 18 per cent of the beneficiaries. However, in its first cabinet meeting on May 31, the Modi 2.0 government, as promised in 2019 poll manifesto, removed all preconditions and brought all farmers, numbering 145 million across India, under the scheme’s ambit.

Shahi further said, “Between October 1 and December 10, 2019, more than 5,510 incidents of stubble burning had been reported in UP. He said action was initiated against 218 individuals and 526 government officials and employees while 1,867 FIRs were lodged for stubble burning in UP and 126 accused were arrested.”

Moreover, he said, the government had slapped fines totalling Rs 2.37 crore on the accused of which Rs 66 lakh had already been realised.

The UP Agriculture Minister further said that the Yogi Adityanath government was committed to following the directives of Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal (NGT) and was actively taking steps to curb stubble burning.

From this month onwards, funds under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-Kisan) will be transferred to only Aadhaar-authenticated bank accounts of eligible farmers, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in Lok Sabha on December 10.

Under PM-Kisan scheme, the government is providing Rs 6,000 per annum in three equal installments to 14 crore farmers. The amount is directly transferred into the bank accounts of beneficiaries.

Aadhaar was made optional for availing the first installment (December 2018 - March 2019) except for farmers of Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir who have been exempted till March 2020. However, Aadhaar number was mandated for getting the second tranche of money. Due to delay in Aadhaar seeding, the condition was relaxed for till November 30 for availing both second and third installments.

"The mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeding of beneficiaries' data continues to be applicable for release of all installments falling due with effect from December 1, 2019 onward," Tomar said in his written reply to the Lower House.

The government has transferred funds under the scheme to 7.60 crore beneficiary till November 30. About Rs 35,882.8 crore has so far been disbursed to beneficiaries, he said.

Registration of farmers for this scheme and subsequent installment-wise transfer of benefits to them, the minister said is a "continuous and ongoing process."

The transfer of funds to the identified eligible beneficiaries takes place as and when their correct and verified data are uploaded by the concerned state governments on PM-Kisan web-portal, he said, adding that the speed with which error-free beneficiaries' data is uploaded differs from state to state.

The Minister further said that the data of beneficiaries so suploaded by the state government undergoes a multi-level verification and validation by various concerned agencies, including the banks. This entire proces is replicated for transfer of every instalment.

"Hence, at any time of time, there remains substantial unprocessed data of beneficiaries which are taken care of in due course of time," Tomar said while responding to query on delay in release of first installment.

Accordingly, the release of installments to beneficiary farmers are in various stages of progress. "Some farmers have got all three installments, some only two and some only one, depending upon the four-monthly period in which they have been first registered by the concerned state governments," he added.

To further facilitate registration of farmers, the minister said an exclusive 'Farmers corner' has been provided in the PM-Kisan portal through which farmers can do their self-registration. Farmers can also edit their names as per their Aadhaar card.

Farmers can also know the status of their payment through the Farmers Corner. Common Service Centres have also been authorised to assist the farmers in this regards, he added.Get access to India's fastest growing financial subscriptions service Moneycontrol Pro for as little as Rs 599 for first year. Use the code "GETPRO". Moneycontrol Pro offers you all the information you need for wealth creation including actionable investment ideas, independent research and insights & analysis For more information, check out the Moneycontrol website or mobile app.