Modi government's PM-Kisan scheme, since April 1, has benefitted a little over 2.25 crore farmers, including 1.08 crore in Uttar Pradesh alone. The farmers have received the second instalment of Rs 2,000 each under the PM-Kisan scheme. However, another 86 lakh farmers, who received only the first instalment of Rs 2,000, are still waiting for the second instalment of Rs 2,000.
The scheme, estimated to cost Rs 75,000 crore yearly, took effect from December 1, 2018. The government's plan was to make sure that the scheme's benefits reached as many eligible farmers as possible before the Lok Sabha elections 2019. They have created a list of around 4.76 crore farmers for the money transfer, the Financial Express reported, quoting official data.
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The PM Kisan-scheme was announced by Piyush Goyal, who was then Finance Minister during the interim Budget in February. In his budget speech, he said it would benefit 12 crore farmers owning up to 2 hectares land, with each getting Rs 6,000 a year in three equal instalments.
However, due to the Election Commission's model code of conduct, which came into effect on March 10, non-cooperation among some Opposition-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal hit the government's plans. The government staff, from both central and state, deployed for election duty have also undermined the NDA goverment's efforts to transfer the initial two instalments to all farmers in the beneficiary list.
A senior official, about the scheme, said, "Initially, Aadhaar was not mandatory for the PM-Kisan cash transfer to beneficiary bank accounts and the payment was made even if a farmer had only Aadhaar enrollment." "However, since the guidelines subsequently made Aadhaar compulsory, the farmer was required to produce the Aadhaar number and thus, the process got delayed as officials have been busy on poll duty", he added.
All BJP-ruled states like -- Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat -- are the top performers in transferring the second instalment, which covers more than 1.41 crore farmers in these states.
(Edited by Vivek Dubey)
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