2.7 cr farmers left out of PM Nidhi scheme

New Delhi, March 12

In 2022-23, the number of beneficiaries of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi — the Union Government’s flagship scheme — has drastically dropped.

Delay in e-KYC

Experts believe that the delay in the completion of e-KYC by eligible farmers and live land integration records of farmers can be the possible reasons for the drop in numbers.

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According to the Union Government data, the latest instalment — the 13th — was transferred directly to bank accounts of 8.53 crore farmers on February 27. The scheme has lost as many as 2.73 crore beneficiaries when compared with the 11th instalment disbursed in May last year.

In the 12th instalment, which was released in December last year, nearly 9 crore farmers had received Rs 2,000 in their bank accounts as financial help.

The Union Government — in this year’s Budget — had already cut the budget allocation to the scheme by Rs 6,000 crore.

As per the records, thousands of farmers in West Bengal, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Assam did not receive the 13th instalment.

Nahar Singh, a farmer from Longowal village in Sangrur district of Punjab, said, “Though I have already completed the requirements, including the KYC, I have not received the instalment.”

The Union Government had, this year, made e-KYC (Electronic — Know Your Customer), a process of electronically verifying the customer’s credentials, mandatory to get the benefits of the scheme.

Experts believe that the delay in the completion of e-KYC and live land integration records of farmers could be possible reasons for the drop in the disbursement of instalment.

Meanwhile, sources in the Union Government are claiming that deceased and ineligible beneficiaries are being removed by the way of continuous verification and validation of beneficiaries’ data. The Union Government claimed that a lot of data was being updated in the scheme.