E-Paper
PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi: Only half of farmers’ account linked so far in Punjab
Only 47% (8.2 lakh) of farmers’ e-KYC out of 17.6 lakh has been done in the state as the Centre has made it mandatory for availing PM Kisan instalment
The Punjab government has so far linked only 8.20 lakh farmers’ accounts (47%) with their land record out of 17.6 lakh, a mandatory condition for availing benefits under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PMKSN).
The Centre gives ₹2,000 in three instalments to farmers and it is a 100% centrally funded scheme. The upcoming instalment for a period of April to June is due in July and the Centre, according to officers in the state agriculture department has said that only those farmers will get the benefit who have their land ownership linked to the Aadhar number.
“Now the date has been extended to July 15 but we are not sure the work will be completed by then,” an officer in the agriculture department said. Meanwhile, director agriculture Gurvinder Singh said that the agriculture department has written to all the deputy commissioners to expedite the work and apart from the agriculture department, revenue and cooperation departments also have been involved to complete the work.
PM Kisan is a flagship scheme of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led NDA government in the Centre and gives farmers up to ₹6,000 per year in three instalments as minimum income support.
The scheme came into effect in December 2018 and to date, 12 instalments have been disbursed. According to the Union agriculture ministry, the scheme is a direct benefit to the farmers without any involvement of the middlemen. To date, the Centre has transferred ₹2.72 crore to 11 crore beneficiaries.
According to additional chief secretary agriculture KAP Sinha, who heads the department, it involves a huge work. “But the work is being expedited so that all the farmers could avail the benefits. The e-KYC mobile application launched for the farmers will speed up the process,” he said. Union minister for agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar launched a mobile phone application last week with a face authentication feature. With the app, each officer can complete the e-KYC process of 500 farmers, the Centre claimed.
A large number of beneficiaries of the scheme in the state are waiting for e-KYC (Know your customer) by which the bank account of an individual beneficiary is linked to his/her Aadhar card and is identified by his facial characteristics. By January this year, only 2.5 lakh farmers were able to get their e-KYC done, and the remaining were denied the benefit.
Gurbakshish Singh, a farmer from a village near Bhawanigarh, Patiala, said that a large number of farmers known to him have not received the benefit for the past two instalments despite having completed all the formalities. As per an estimate, 7 lakh state farmers have not received any benefit.
Jagmohan Singh general secretary of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), Dakounda, said that the amount is too meagre for the farmers to make any good use. “Also, for the past 3-4 instalments, a large number of farmers have been ignored, he added.
