PM Kisan plan benefits 44 crore individuals, 11 crore families
In the period between December 2018 and March 2019, which included the first three months of the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (Pmkisan)—launched on 24 February 2019—the number of beneficiaries who got Rs 2,000 was 3.16 crore families. When the latest instalment of Rs 2,000 was paid for the period December 2021-March 2022, the number of beneficiary families stood at 11.05 crore, a phenomenal increase of almost 250% in a span of three years.
Under this scheme, all landholding farmers’ families are provided financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per annum per family, which is paid in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each, every four months by the Central government. This scheme, a brain-child of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was launched as an income support mechanism for all landholding farmers to supplement their financial needs for procuring various inputs related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs. A family, as per the rules, is described as “husband, wife and minor children”. This translates to at least 44 crore individuals who are getting direct benefit of PM KISAN (11 crore families, each family having at least four members). The responsibility of identifying the eligible farmers’ families for benefit under the scheme is entirely of the state/ut governments.
While the Rs 6,000 per annum amount may appear “low”, it becomes “big” once the monthly income of a farmer is taken into account. As per the National Statistical Office’s (NSO) Situation Assessment of Agricultural
Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India (SAS) 2019 survey, released in September 2021, at the all-india level, the average monthly income per agricultural household, during agricultural year 2018-19, was Rs 10,218.
This additional income of Rs 2,000 per quarter, officials say, has increased the “disposable income” of the beneficiaries for which the family does not have to put in any effort. The execution of the scheme has been made fool-proof with the benefit going directly to the bank account of the beneficiary, who should have the agricultural land in his/her name; the seeding of Aadhar details with the bank accounts of the beneficiary has been made compulsory to root out further corruption.
The successful execution of the scheme, which also