Only Aadhar authenticated bank accounts to get PM-Kisan payments: Govt

The Government of India has notified that the fourth instalment of the PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) income support scheme due in December 2019 will be transferred only to Aadhar-authenticated bank accounts of more than 50 million beneficiaries. This will be the first time since the launch of this scheme on 24 February 2019, that the government is insisting on mandatory condition of Aadhar seeding.

Key Highlights

The instalment for December 2019 to March 2020 will be transferred to Aadhar-authenticated bank accounts at one go this month. Thereby, from 4th instalment onwards, payment would be made only to farmers whose Aadhar numbers have been authenticated with their bank accounts. The department has authenticated over 50 million bank accounts.

Government has not yet decided the date and venue for disbursement of the installment but is expected to disburse over Rs.10,000 crore to farmers in a one day. This will also be the largest disbursal in one day so far under PM-KISAN, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the launch on February 24 distributed first instalment of Rs.2,000 each for December 2018-March 2019 period to over 10 million farmers. The step is expected to boost sagging rural economy at a time when GDP growth has hit bottom.

About Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) Yojana

It is a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from Centre Government. Under PM-Kisan Yojana, the central government provides income support of Rs.6,000 per year to all farmer families in country. The income support is paid in instalments of Rs.2,000 every four months. The Scheme defines farmer family as- husband, wife and minor children. The entire responsibility of identification of beneficiary farmer families rests with State Governments and Union Territory government.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2019