Some irregularities have recently been pointed out regarding the ambitious scheme of the Modi government, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM Kisan). The central government has stated that in about 1.7 million cases across the country, it was found that both husband and wife are availing benefits of this scheme. This was revealed during an investigation campaign conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The government has now become vigilant regarding this. It has written to state governments asking them to complete the verification process for these suspicious cases as soon as possible.
What the government can do next?
The central government has identified more than 3.1 million beneficiaries under the PM Kisan Yojana, where both husband and wife are receiving benefits. The Agriculture Ministry has now asked states and union territories to investigate these suspicious cases and remove inappropriate beneficiaries from the list by October 15th. The central government is taking this step before the release of the 21st installment. Of the 3.1 million suspected cases listed by the Agriculture Ministry, approximately 1.9 million have been investigated so far. In approximately 94 percent of these cases, it was confirmed that both husband and wife were receiving benefits under the scheme.
Aim of the special scheme
Under the PM Kisan Yojana, financial assistance of ₹6,000 is sent to the bank accounts of farmers’ families every four months in three equal installments. Since the scheme’s launch in February 2019, 20 installments have been paid to over 97 million farmers. Previously, the Ministry had detected over 3.3 million suspicious cases where landowner details were found to be incorrect.
The central government recently transferred ₹2,000 each to the accounts of farmers in Jammu and Kashmir as the 21st installment, following the transfers to Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. This move was taken by the government due to the massive disaster in these states. It is expected that the next installments of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana will be released soon for other states as well.