PM Kisan: Survey Reveals 15.2 Lakh Farmers Deprived of Financial Assistance

According to a survey, as many as 15.2 lakh farmers in Andhra Pradesh are deprived of money received under the Centre’s most successful scheme - ‘PM Kisan Samman Nidhi’ that provides financial assistance of Rs. 6000 per year.

Under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, the farmers receive Rs. 6,000 every year in three instalments of Rs. 2,000 each.  It must be noted that the transfer of the 10th instalment of PM Kisan is under way since 1 January 2022 and will be completed by February end.

What the survey reveals about PM Kisan Scheme

A survey conducted by LibTech, which is represented by a team of engineers, social scientists and social workers who work towards improving public service delivery in the country says that there are total 59, 06,097 farmers registered under PM Kisan yojana, who are entitled to get an estimated Rs. 96,03.3 crore.

While payments of nearly Rs. 82,03.7 crore have been received by the beneficiaries, an estimated Rs. 13,43.5 crore is yet to be received by over 15 lakh farmers who have missed the installments. The reason for their exclusion is primarily rejections by respective banks or Aadhaar verification issue.

The fund transfer is done through account payments or Aadhaar payments. In many cases, the money transferred to the beneficiaries’ bank account does not get credited because of technical issues, or under ‘account-based payment system’ the bank account details of farmers are not entered properly in MIS, or the beneficiaries’ bank account is not operational for a long time that results in blockade or freezing of the account.

Meanwhile in the Aadhaar payment system, the rejections happen because of mapping related issues by the National Payment Corporation of India.

Ajay Palle Swaero of LibTech India says, “In the PM Kisan database, there is no clearly mentioned reason as to why the payments are put on hold, a reason why farmers are not able to resolve the problem & receive their payments”.

A survey of 33,562 cases of farmers who faced ‘bank rejection’ & ‘Aadhaar not verified cases’ in July 2021 showed that only 12.5 percent of cases have been resolved in the past 6 months.

A proper guideline is needed

Naveen Gajjalagari, another researcher involved in compilation of the data says, “The Agriculture Department must frame guidelines & share them with the frontline officials to guarantee that the beneficiaries receive what is due to them”.

They suggested that the department must also tell the reasons why the payments are put on hold and specify the procedure of resolution, and set up special camps to enroll farmers who are not registered under PM Kisan.