Budget 2020: PM-KISAN Fund Allocation Could be Cut By 20 Percent

As per reports, the ministry of agriculture has sought 20 percent less funds for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana that gives farmer Rs 6000 a year for the year 2020-21 as some states have been quite slow in identifying the beneficiaries while several existing recipients are yet to be Aadhaar verified.

The Agriculture ministry has asked for Rs 60,000 crore for PM-KISAN scheme for the next fiscal. An official who is familiar with the development on PM-Kisan funds told media that the Centre had allocated Rs 75,000 crore for the current year. The person also told that this is because the Centre has been able to pay out only Rs 44,000 crore so far this fiscal under PM-Kisan scheme.

At first, government had thought of transferring funds to 145 million beneficiaries, but until now only 95 million farmers have been registered under PM-Kisan yojana, out of which 75 million have been Aadhaar verified.

The remaining 20 million registered farmers would get the benefit only after proper verification of their Aadhaar card details, as Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar last month told that PM-KISAN funds will be transferred only to Aadhaar-authenticated bank accounts of eligible farmers.

The agriculture ministry has sought a less amount for the income support scheme to align the allocation with realities like zero (0) beneficiaries identified by West Bengal, according to the official. He also said “We have asked for a more sensible budget which is based on our existing database & potential beneficiaries”.