Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday transferred Rs 17,000 crore directly into the bank accounts of 8.5 crore farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme.
He said the scheme has been successful in its objective to provide financial support to farmers without any involvement of middlemen.
The Centre provides Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme that was launched in December 2018.
The prime minister “released the 6th installment under the PM-KISAN scheme of Rs 17,000 crore to nearly 8.5 crore farmers. The cash benefit was transferred directly to their Aadhaar verified bank accounts with the press of a button,” an official statement said.
The scheme has also been instrumental in supporting farmers during the Covid-19 pandemic, through the release of nearly Rs 22,000 Crore to aid the farmers during the lockdown period, the government said.
Over 9 crore farmers have registered themselves under the scheme between December 2018 and November 2019, it said. Of these, 7.62 crore or 84 per cent of farmers have received the first installment.
The money through the second installment was given to nearly 6.5 crore farmers and the amount under the third installment was given to 3.85 crore beneficiaries, according to the data received in response to an RTI query.
The data of beneficiaries so uploaded by them undergoes a multi-level verification, including by banks, and only then the amount is released to the beneficiary, it said, adding that www.pmkisan.gov.in website can be accessed to get more details on the operational guidelines of the scheme.
