eKYC Should Not be Compulsory for Taking Benefits of PM Kisan, Urges Farmers Association

"eKYC is MANDATORY for PMKISAN Registered Farmers," according to the PM Kisan website. The PMKISAN Portal provides OTP-based eKYC, or you can contact your nearest CSC for biometric-based eKYC.

The Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam has requested the Centre not to ask farmers to complete an eKYC form in order to get the 11th installment of financial aid under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.

The Centre has made eKYC a requirement for farmers to receive the 11th installment of the scheme, which provides beneficiaries with ₹6,000 per year. "The new procedure has many farmers confused. We suggest that the Centre maintain the previous system of providing assistance to farmers," the association said in a resolution adopted at its Perambalur district unit's executive committee meeting recently.

Concerned about the continuing decrease in the cost of small onions, the association has requested the government to set a minimum purchase price of $30 per kg for the bulbs.

The government should also procure the bulbs and distribute them to customers through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED).

The meeting also asked the government to guarantee that rice is continuously procured at direct purchase centers. The Prime Minister's Crop Insurance Scheme, which provides compensation for crop damage suffered by individual farmers, must also be restructured by the Centre.

The association has also urged the government to ensure that arrears and incentives due to sugarcane suppliers from sugar factories are distributed for the 2020-21 crushing season; to implement the Cauvery (Mettur Dam)-Sarabanga-Thirumanimuthar-Ayyar canal link scheme; and to remove encroachments from all irrigation tanks, canals, and ponds on an equitable basis.

The conference, headed by R.Raja Chidambaram, the association's State Secretary, decided to ensure large-scale participation of farmers from Perambalur and Ariyalur districts in the rally planned in Tiruchi on July 5 to pay homage to farmers' martyrs.