Beneficiaries from Punjab drop by 56% in three years
In a reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Union agri minister said Punjab has failed to complete scheme’s mandatory formalities
PATIALA: The number of beneficiaries under the Centre’s flagship scheme, PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) dropped by 56% in Punjab in the past three years. This was revealed in a written reply submitted by Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Rajya Sabha to a question raised by AAP RS member Vikramjit Singh Sahney.
Sahney had raised questions on the reasons behind the drop in the number of beneficiaries and whether the Union government is planning to launch any campaign to add names of those who have been left behind.
In its reply, the union agriculture minister said that from 17.59 lakh beneficiaries in 2021-22, the number dropped to 7.97 lakh in 2024-25, when the 17th instalment of the scheme was released. The drop translates to nearly 9.62 lakh or 56%.
Launched in February 2019, a financial benefit of ₹6,000 per year is transferred in three equal instalments, into the Aadhaar seeded bank accounts of farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.
Chouhan, in a reply, said that to date over ₹3.24 lakh crore has been transferred to eligible 11 crore farmers in 17 instalments since inception.
The Union agriculture minister added that the number of beneficiaries in Punjab dropped when the Centre made land seeding, e-KYC (know your customer), and linking of Aadhaar cards with bank accounts mandatory to get benefits through DBT. “This decrease was nominal in the states that proactively undertook suitable measures and completed the above-said mandatory requirements. However, in the case of Punjab, in 2022-23 during the 12th instalment period, they could complete the land seeding for only 2.07 lakh farmers, and accordingly, the benefits were released to them. In 2023-24, during the 16th instalment (December 2023 – March 2024), the benefits were released to about 7.2 lakh farmers whose land seeding, Aadhaar-based payments, and e-KYC were completed,” Chouhan said in his reply.
The centre made land seeding mandatory during the release of the 12th instalment of the scheme (August 2022 - November 2022), and Aadhaar-based payment from the 13th instalment (December 2022 - March 2023) onwards. The e-KYC was made mandatory from the 15th instalment (April 2023-July 2023).
“States are mandated to identify and verify the eligible beneficiaries under the scheme and upload the details of eligible farmers including land records, linking of Aadhaar with their bank accounts and e-KYC for successful transfer of the benefits,” Chouhan added.
He added that there would be no loss due to the missed instalments, owing to the lack of fulfilling the mandated requirements of the scheme. “The validation checks of land seeding, Aadhaar linking with bank accounts, e-KYC, and payment to the eligible beneficiaries are the ongoing processes. As and when the farmers complete the mandatory requirements, they receive benefits of all outstanding instalments,” the minister added.
He added that during the recent drive under the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra (VBSY), from November 15, 2023, to saturate the scheme with all eligible farmers more than 1 crore farmers were covered across the country, out of which over 2.20 lakh farmers were from the Punjab. Punjab director agriculture Jaswant Singh said the department is reaching out to all the eligible farmers.
“Our staff is reaching out to all the eligible farmers to get them enrolled into the scheme. Regular announcements are being made in village gurdwaras to appeal to farmers to enrol themselves under the PM Kisan scheme. It has come to the fore, during special camps organised to register farmers under the scheme, that they are reluctant to fulfil the mandatory requirements of the scheme. However, we are doing what we can to enrol more farmers,” he said.