The Uttar Pradesh government launched a statewide extensive campaign on Wednesday, May 23, to ensure that all eligible farmers in the state receive the benefits of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. The campaign aimed to saturate the farmers with the scheme's benefits before the release of the 14th installment, which would provide Rs2,000 to each beneficiary.
Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi made this announcement during a press conference held on Tuesday. He mentioned that the saturation drive would continue until June 10, during which beneficiaries' personal data would be rectified, and their bank accounts would be linked to their Aadhaar numbers.
The campaign was officially inaugurated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his residence in 5, KD on Wednesday morning, with the program being live-streamed for wider reach. Shahi stated that during the drive, camps would be organized in 5,000 villages every day. The camps would be staffed by personnel from the agriculture, panchayat, and revenue departments, as well as representatives from banks, post offices, and common service centers.
Shahi explained that the objective of the drive was to ensure that all eligible beneficiaries of the scheme receive its benefits without any hindrance caused by incomplete details. He emphasized the need to verify the beneficiaries' land records, complete their e-KYC, and link their bank accounts during the drive. Additionally, Shahi mentioned that the 14th installment of the PM-Kisan scheme was scheduled to be released in the following month.
Under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, each beneficiary receives Rs2,000 credited to their bank accounts every four months, totaling Rs6,000 per year. Responding to a question, Shahi revealed that approximately 50 lakh farmers in Uttar Pradesh were yet to avail themselves of the scheme's benefits due to their bank accounts not being linked to Aadhaar or their land records not being verified.
According to Shahi, in Uttar Pradesh, out of the 2.63 crore beneficiaries, approximately 40-50 lakh farmers still needed to fulfill the mandatory formalities, which included land record verification, e-KYC, and Aadhaar seeding. He further pointed out that an amount of Rs55,882 crore had already been transferred to PM-Kisan beneficiaries since the scheme's launch in 2019.
