To get the first installment of Rs 2,000 under the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), farmers will have to link their account with Aadhaar number to verify the identity of eligible farmers.
“If Aadhaar number is not there, then other alternate documents namely driving licence, voters’ ID card, NREGA job card, or any other identification issued by Central/State Governments or their authorities will have to provided for availing the first installment,” the Ministry of Agriculture said in a letter to the chief secretaries of all States and Union Territories. Besides, the Agriculture Ministry has fixed February 1, 2019, as the cut-off date for determining the ownership of land under the scheme.
“For transfer of first installment of benefit for the period December 2018-March 2019, Aadhaar number shall be collected wherever available…”, Secretary (Agriculture) Sanjay Agarwal said in the letter, directing the State Governments to ensure that there is no duplication of the eligible farmers. The State Governments have been asked to prepare a database of beneficiary of small and marginal landholder farmer families in the villages capturing details such as name, gender, whether belonging to SC/ST, Aadhaar, bank account number and mobile number of beneficiaries.
To identify the land ownership, the Ministry said it will use the existing land-ownership system prevailing in the States and Union Territories. “Any changes to land records after that would not be considered for eligibility of the benefit for the next five years,” it said.
“However, the scheme benefit will be allowed on transfer of ownership of cultivable land on account of succession,” it said.
In North-Eastern States, where land ownership rights are community based, the Centre will develop an alternative mechanism by a committee of Union ministers and the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region to implement this scheme.
The Centre also said if a landholder farmer family had land parcels spread across different villages or revenue records, then land would be pooled for determining the benefit. “Accordingly, it is of utmost importance that the land records are clear and updated and the state governments are requested to complete updating of land records for the purpose expeditiously,” the Centre said.
In the Interim Budget, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal announced direct income support of Rs 6,000 per year to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to 2 hectare. The Central Government’s fully funded scheme, PM-KISAN Yojna will be implemented from this year and the first installment will be transferred by March.
The Government also said for the transfer of benefit, district-wise beneficiaries’ lists shall be certified and uploaded by States/UTs on the PM-Kisan portal of the Government of India and the funds would be electronically transferred to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts on the pattern of the MNREGS. These lists will also have to be displayed or verified at gram panchayats to ensure greater transparency and accuracy of the list.
The funds shall be released periodically based on the receipt of fund transfer order from the states concerned with the eligible beneficiaries’ details. It also asked states to notify district-level grievance redressal committees and designate a nodal department for implementation of the scheme. The Government has already earmarked Rs 20,000 crore for disbursement in the current fiscal year to an estimated 12 crore farmers.