New Delhi, Oct 9
Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the relaxation of the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeded data as a pre-condition for release of funds to the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme.
Briefing media on the Cabinet decision here, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said the scheme provides income support of Rs 6,000 per year to landholding families, subject to certain exclusions. The amount is released in three 4-monthly instalments of Rs 2,000 each directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through DBT mode.
Under this scheme, after August 1, release of third Instalment onwards to those beneficiaries who got first instalment during December, 2018 - March, 2019 and second instalment during April-July is to be made only on the basis of Aadhaar seeded database.
Similarly, after August 1, release of second instalment onwards to those who got first instalment during April-July, is to be made only on the basis of Aadhaar seeded database. Again, after August 1, release of first instalment onwards to the rest of the beneficiaries after August 1 is to be made only on the basis of Aadhaar seeded database.
Farmers in the States of Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir, where there has not been enough Aadhaar penetration, have been exempted from this requirement till March 31, 2020.
However, it has not been possible to get 100 per cent Aadhaar seeding for release of funds as per the prescribed time schedule before release of instalments after August 1. Since the farmers are still gearing up for Rabi season, they are in dire need of money to take care of various farming activities like procurement of seeds, preparation of soil and other associated activities like irrigation, maintenance and mobilization of machinery and tools.
Over and above these pressing needs, the just started festive season will put further stress on the financial condition of the poor farmers' households in the country. Non-seeding of beneficiaries' details with Aadhaar number will delay the release of further instalments and will cause discontentment among the farmers.
Therefore, the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeding for release of benefits after August 1 has been relaxed till November 30. This will enable immediate release of benefits to a large number of farmers who are not able to avail the same due this requirement. This mandatory requirement will remain applicable for release of benefits w.e.f. December 1 onwards.
The Government will take adequate measures to validate the data before payment is made.
The Central Sector Scheme, namely, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) provides income support to land-holding farmers' families, subject to certain exclusions, by way of payment of Rs 6000/- per year.
A total amount of more than Rs 27000 crore has already been released under the scheme through the first instalment to 6,76,76,073 beneficiaries, second instalment to 5,14,27,195 beneficiaries and third instalment to 1,74,20,230 beneficiaries.
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