Govt gears up to give 2 installments under PM-KISAN before LS polls

The Centre is gearing up to give two instalments amounting to Rs 4,000 directly to eligible farmers under the newly announced PM-KISAN scheme before the Lok Sabha elections, a senior agriculture ministry official said Wednesday.

In the interim-budget, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal announced the direct income support scheme called Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three installments directly into the bank account of 12 crore eligible small and marginal farmers owning land up to 2 hectare.

Goyal had also said that the scheme will be launched from this fiscal onwards and the first installment of Rs 2,000 will be given by March.

"The states are in the process of the identifying the eligible farmers. The initial list of beneficiaries should be ready soon," the official told PTI.

Many states such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharasthra have digitalised land records. Telangana, Odisha and Jharkand too have got the data as these states too have announced similar schemes, the official said.

Asked if two installments will be given before the Lok Sabha elections, the official said, "we are getting ready for that. We are hopeful of transferring two installments amounting Rs 4,000 before the Lok Sabha elections."