The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is a landmark Central Sector Scheme, launched in 2019, that aims to provide supplementary income support to all land-holding farmer families across India. The scheme provides a financial benefit of ₹6,000 per annum in three equal installments of ₹2,000 each, transferred directly into the Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts of eligible farmers via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The primary objective is to enable farmers to meet their expenses related to agricultural inputs, ensure crop health, and shield them from falling into debt traps with moneylenders.
Snapshot
- Primary Purpose : To supplement the financial needs of all land-holding farmer families to procure agricultural inputs and manage domestic needs.
- Secondary Purpose : To reduce farmers’ reliance on informal credit (moneylenders) for farming expenses.
- Controlling Ministry : Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India.
- Launch Year : 2019 (Implemented retrospectively from December 2018).
- Official Website : https://pmkisan.gov.in/
- Target Location : Central/Pan India
Quantification
Scheme Categories
- Financial Livelihood & Income : Direct Income Transfer (DBT)
- Technology & Farm Modernization : General Asset Subsidies & Grants (The aid helps with input purchase)
Financial Aid & Disbursement Details
- Financial Aid : ₹6,000 per annum per landholding farmer family.
- Direct Cash Benefit (Input Support) : ₹15,000 per hectare over 3 years is provided to farmers for organic inputs via DBT (part of the total ₹46,500/ha).
- Disbursement Frequency : Tri-annually (Every four months).
- Payment Cycles (Typical):
- April – July
- August – November
- December – March
Qualification
Eligible Farmer Type
- Landholding Size : All land-holding farmer families, irrespective of the size of their holdings (Small/Marginal, Medium, Large).
- Land Tenure & Labor Status : Owner-Cultivator (Must have cultivable landholding in their name).
- Socio-Economic Equity : SC/ST Farmers, Women Farmers (if they meet the landholding and non-exclusion criteria).
Specific Eligibility Criteria
- Landholding Requirement : Must be a landholding farmer family with cultivable land registered in their name in the State/UT land records.
- Geographic/Crop Criteria : Pan-India; no specific crop criteria.
- Exclusions Checklist :
- All Institutional Landholders.
- Families with one or more members who are/were former or present holders of constitutional posts.
- Former/present Ministers, MPs, MLAs, Mayors of Municipal Corporations, or Chairpersons of District Panchayats.
- Serving or retired government officers/employees (Central/State, PSUs, etc.), excluding Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS), Class IV, and Group D employees.
- Retired pensioners with a monthly pension of ₹10,000 or more (excluding MTS/Class IV/Group D employees).
- All persons who paid Income Tax in the last assessment year.
- Professionals (Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, CAs, etc.) registered with professional bodies.
- Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).
Quickness
Application and Disbursement Process
- Application Method :
- Online Portal:
pmkisan.gov.in(“Farmers’ Corner” → New Farmer Registration) - Assisted: Through Common Service Centers (CSCs).
- Offline: Submission to State Nodal Officers (SNOs).
- Online Portal:
- Verification/e-KYC Step Mandatory : Mandatory e-KYC (OTP-based or Biometric) is required. Aadhaar-seeding of the bank account is essential for DBT.
- Disbursement Schedule : Funds are transferred during the three fixed quadrennial cycles (e.g., Apr-Jul).
- Disbursement Type : Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) into the Aadhaar-seeded bank account.
- Claim/Loan Processing Time : Varies significantly; processing time is typically determined by the State Lead Agency (SLA) and partner banks (for credit-linked components).
- Status Tracking Method : Official PM-KISAN Portal (“Know Your Status”) or PM-KISAN Mobile App.
Required Documents Checklist
- Identity & Authentication :
- Aadhaar Card : Mandatory for identity proof and completing e-KYC.
- Financial Details :
- Bank Account Passbook : Essential for DBT; account must be Aadhaar-seeded.
- Photographic Proof :
- Passport Size Photograph : Required for the application form.
- Citizenship :
- Proof of Citizenship (if required) : To confirm applicant is a citizen of India.
- Land Ownership :
- Record of Rights (RoR) / Land Records : State-specific land records (e.g., Khasra/Khatauni, 7/12, 8-A) showing cultivable land in the applicant’s name.
- Caste/Category Proof :
- Caste Certificate : Mandatory for SC/ST, women, etc. (if seeking specific benefits).
- Scheme-Specific Documents : Self-Declaration stating that the family does not fall under any exclusion criteria.
Questions
Q. Why is my payment status stuck at ‘FTO Generated’ or ‘Payment Failed’?
A. This usually means your bank account is not correctly Aadhaar-seeded (NPCI mapped), or your details were rejected by the Public Financial Management System (PFMS). You must visit your bank to get your Aadhaar-seeding validated for DBT.
Q. My application was rejected, but I’m eligible. Why?
A. Your e-KYC may have failed because your name, gender, or date of birth on the PM-KISAN portal did not exactly match your Aadhaar or bank records. You must correct the mismatch using the ‘Name Correction as per Aadhaar’ feature or by visiting a CSC.
Q. My neighbor, who has the same size farm, is getting money, but I’m not.
A. The State/UT authorities may not have digitized or validated your land records (RoR/Khasra) in the PM-KISAN portal, or they may have been flagged for further physical verification. Check your status for land-seeding errors.
Q. I received installments before, but they suddenly stopped. What happened?
A. You may have been flagged for falling under the Exclusion List (e.g., a family member became an Income Tax Payee, or retired with a high pension). The system performs continuous checks, leading to a block or refund request.
Q. I corrected my application error online weeks ago, but the status hasn’t updated.
A. Corrections (especially for land records and name changes) require manual re-verification and approval from the State Nodal Officer (SNO) or District authorities. Delays in this state-level approval process often cause long hold-ups in payment.
Q. How is a ‘landholding farmer family’ defined under the PM-KISAN scheme?
A. A ‘landholding farmer family’ is defined as a unit comprising husband, wife, and minor children (under 18 years of age) who collectively own cultivable land in their name as per the official land records. The benefit is given to the family as a single unit.
Q. I am a tenant/sharecropper and cultivate land, but I don’t own it. Am I eligible?
A. No. The scheme benefits are strictly limited to landholding farmers whose names are recorded as the owner of the cultivable land in the official land records of the State/UT. Tenant farmers and landless labourers are generally ineligible.
Q. Can a farmer who owns more than 2 hectares of cultivable land receive the benefits?
A. Yes. While the scheme initially focused on Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs), it has been extended to cover all land-holding farmer families across the country, irrespective of the size of their landholding, provided they meet the non-exclusion criteria.
Q. My father received PM-KISAN benefit, but he recently passed away. Can I now get the benefit?
A. Yes. If the ownership of the cultivable land has been officially transferred to your name in the land records due to succession/death of the previous owner, you become eligible. You must register as a new farmer and upload the updated records.
Q. What if one person in my family pays Income Tax? Does that make the whole family ineligible?
A. Yes. If any one member of the landholding farmer family (husband, wife, or minor children) is an Income Tax Payee in the last assessment year, the entire family is excluded from receiving the benefit, as they fall under the “higher economic status” exclusion criteria.