How is PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana changing the lives of farmers?

Delhi. The Central Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 2, 2019 launched an ambitious scheme for the welfare of farmers – Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). The scheme was launched with the objective of ensuring positive supplementary income support to farmer families in the country and promoting a productive, competitive, diverse, inclusive and sustainable agriculture sector. Certainly, this scheme is bringing a change in the lives of small and marginal farmers who are now more prosperous.
It is noteworthy that this is one of the largest DBT schemes in the world. Under the scheme, a benefit of Rs 6,000 is provided annually in three equal installments of Rs 2,000 every four months to eligible farmer families. The benefit amount is sent directly to the bank accounts of eligible beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode using modern digital technology. The central government provides 100 percent funding for this scheme. What underlines the inclusive nature of the scheme is that at least one in four beneficiaries is a woman farmer. Moreover, more than 85 percent of small and marginal farmers are beneficiaries under this scheme.
Needless to say, in the first five years the scheme has crossed many milestones and has received praise from various organizations including the World Bank for its comprehensive vision, scale and seamless transfer of funds directly into the accounts of eligible farmers. A study conducted on farmers in Uttar Pradesh by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) shows that benefits under PM-Kisan reached most of the farmers, who received the full amount without any leakages. According to the same study, farmers who received cash transfers under PM-Kisan were more likely to invest in purchasing farm equipment, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides.
A PIB release said that continuous improvements have been made in the farmer-centric digital infrastructure with the aim of making the scheme more efficient, effective and transparent, to ensure that the benefits of the scheme reach all farmers across the country without any hassles. Reached with the involvement of some middleman. PM-Kisan portal has been integrated with the portals of UIDAI, PFMS, NPCI and Income Tax Department. States/UTs and all other stakeholders are involved on the PM-Kisan platform to provide prompt services to farmers. While farmers can register their complaints on PM-Kisan portal and take help of 24×7 call facility for effective and timely resolution of the issues. The government has also developed ‘Kisan e-Mitra’ (a voice-based AI chatbot), which enables farmers to ask and resolve queries in their own language in real time.
Kisan-e-Mitra is now available in 10 languages i.e. English, Hindi, Oriya, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Gujarati, Punjabi, Telugu and Marathi. To solve the problems of farmers at village level related to PM-Kisan scheme, village-level nodal officers have been nominated in all the villages across the country. The association of Indian Post Payments Bank (IPPB) with the PM-Kisan scheme has facilitated the beneficiaries to open Aadhaar bank accounts at their convenience and doorstep without any hassle. Recently, as part of the Vikas Bharat Sankalp Yatra, the Government of India launched a nationwide campaign to satiate eligible farmers with the PM-Kisan scheme. During the campaign, more than 90 lakh eligible farmers including six lakh PVTG farmers were covered under PM-Kisan scheme. According to an official release, the scheme has provided a benefit of Rs 3 lakh crore to more than 11 crore eligible farmer families with the 16th installment amounting to Rs.