Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana

Announced in February of 2019 during the Interim Union Budget presentation, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana is one of the many government-backed schemes in India. The scheme aims to provide financial assistance via direct benefit transfer (DBT) to small-time farmers. If you’re a marginal or small-time farmer, here’s what you need to know about this unique initiative.

What is the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana?

The PM KISAN Samman Nidhi Yojana is a scheme that provides minimum income support of up to ₹6,000 per annum per family to eligible marginal and small-time farmers. The financial assistance of ₹6,000 per annum is disbursed directly to the farmers’ bank accounts in three instalments of ₹2,000 every 4 months. 

The Objective of PM KISAN Yojana

A large majority of the farmers in the Indian agricultural sector are marginal and are often not financially prosperous. In a bid to reduce the financial burden on farming communities, the Union Government brought the PM KISAN Yojana into effect. 

The initiative aims to address the financial disparities that small-time farmers and their families face by providing them with a minimum income support of ₹6,000 per annum. The funds that the farmers receive as part of the scheme can be used to manage their financial obligations more effectively. 

How Did the Scheme Come into Effect?

The Telangana Government in 2018 came up with a financial assistance scheme for small-time and marginal farmers of its state. Known as the Ryuthu Bandhu scheme, a particular sum was disbursed twice a year to eligible farmers to support their agricultural efforts. The state government’s efforts garnered a huge positive response from farmers and other stakeholders.

In a bid to replicate the success of the Telangana Government’s farmer income support scheme on a nationwide basis, the Union Government of India decided to introduce the PM KISAN Samman Nidhi Yojana. During the first year of implementation, around ₹75,000 crore was allocated for the scheme.

What are the Features of the PM KISAN Samman Nidhi Yojana?

As a small-time farmer, you need to know what the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana’s noteworthy features are. Here’s a quick overview of some of the key features of the scheme:

• Income Support at Regular Intervals:

The financial assistance of ₹6,000 per annum under this scheme is not disbursed as a single payout. Instead, the sum is split into three instalments equally and is disbursed every 4 months of the year. This ensures that you have access to a regular source of income to keep up with your financial needs.

• Cap on Land Ownership:

Since the entire objective is to help small-time farmers, you can claim the scheme’s benefits only if you own up to 2 hectares of land.

• Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT):

The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana disburses funds via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). This reduces instances of malpractice and ensures that the monetary support reaches the intended farmers.

How often is PM KISAN Samman Nidhi Money Released?

The PM KISAN scheme instalments are released thrice in a year. These instalments are paid in April–July, August–November, and December-March and the beneficiary farmers are paid ₹2000 after every four months.

On February 24, 2025, the union government released the 19th instalment of ₹22,000 crore, which was disbursed among 9.8 crore beneficiaries. Before that, the 18th PMKISAN instalment was released on October 5, 2024, and the 17th instalment was released on 18 June, 2024.

Who is Eligible for the PM KISAN Scheme?

To claim the benefits under the PM KISAN Samman Nidhi Yojana, you need to satisfy the following list of eligibility criteria:

• Those who own cultivable land holdings in their names, irrespective of the size of their land holdings

• Farmers’ families whose names are entered into the land records (excluding Jharkhand and the North-Eastern states)

• The cut-off date for determination of landholding is February 1, 2019, and no changes are considered for the next 5 years

• The e-KYC is mandatory for verifying the identity of beneficiaries under the PM KISAN scheme

Who is Excluded from PMKSY? 

The PM KISAN Yojana has also notified certain exclusion criteria. You cannot claim the scheme’s benefits if you satisfy the exclusion criteria listed below:

• Institutional landholders.
• Farmer families belonging to following categories
  1. Former or present holders of constitutional posts, Ministers, State Ministers, Members of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha or State Legislative Assemblies or State Legislative Councils, Mayors of Municipal Corporations, Chairpersons of District Panchayats.
  2. Serving or retired officers and employees of Central or State Government Ministries or Offices or Departments and their field units, Central or State PSEs and attached offices, autonomous institutions under government and Local Bodies (Multi Tasking Staff, Class IV, Group D employees excluded)
  3. Superannuated and retired pensioners with a monthly pension of ₹10,000 or more (Multi Tasking Staff, Class IV, Group D employees excluded)
  4. Those who paid income tax in the last assessment year
  5. Professionals like doctors, engineers, lawyers, chartered accountants, and architects registered with professional bodies and carry out their profession by undertaking practices.
• Non-resident Indians (NRIs) in terms of the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961

How to Apply for the PM KISAN Samman Nidhi Yojana?

You can apply for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana scheme through any of the following methods:

Online

If you are eligible for this scheme but are not yet enrolled as a beneficiary, you can apply online for Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi by following the below mentioned steps.

• Go to the official website https://pmkisan.gov.in/ and click on the “New Farmer Registration”.

• You will be directed to an online registration, and you will have to fill all the mandatory fields.

• Once you have submitted your PM KISAN registration form online, it will be automatically forwarded to the State Nodal Officer for verification.

• Another way to apply online for the PM KISAN scheme is to download the PM KISAN mobile app. Once you open the app, you will have to go to “New Farmer Registration” section and click on it. Then complete the registration procedure by filling in the required details and submit.

Offline

In addition to applying online for Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, an eligible farmer can also apply offline for PM KISAN scheme.The farmer families who are not listed as beneficiaries of the scheme can approach the District Level Grievance Redressal Monitoring Committee in their respective districts for inclusion of their names in the beneficiary list.

A farmer can also approach Common Service Centres and submit the application form there. The centre will register the farmers on the PM KISAN portal and will take a nominal charge from the farmer.

What are the Documents Required to Register?

To register, the following documents are required for Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana registration:

• Aadhaar card, which is essential for eKYC

• Bank account details, which are needed for the transfer of the amount to the beneficiary

• Land ownership record, which is the eligibility prerequisite for the scheme

It is necessary that all the documents needed for PM KISAN registration are legally valid and up to date. If any document is later found to be forged or legally invalid, it can incur cancellation or rejection of scheme benefit and penal action.

In case a farmer finds that any of the documents are missing or that he or she has not applied for any of the document, he or she must prioritise applying for such a document before applying for the scheme.

What is eKYC?

eKYC, or the electronic Know Your Customer, is Aadhaar-based paperless verification that allows Aadhaar holders to establish their identity.

Once the eligible farmer has completed his or her PM KISAN e-KYC through any mode, the status of eKYC will be reflected after 24 hours. The farmers can access their status from the Know Your Status (KYS) module on the PM KISAN portal and Kisan-eMitra (PM KISAN AI Chatbot)

The eligible farmer must have an Aadhaar-linked bank account as the scheme benefit is directly deposited into his or her account.

Since the Aadhaar-linked bank account for PM KISAN scheme beneficiaries is mandatory, here is how you can link your Aadhaar and bank account through various online and offline methods.

How Applicants Can Link Aadhaar with a Bank Account? 

In case of a new applicant for the scheme, the process of linking Aadhaar with the PM KISAN bank account is part of the application process. Here is how it is done:

• Go to pmkisan.gov.in and click on “New Farmer Registration” on the homepage of the official website
• You will then see a form which you will have to fill in with all the mandatory details, including Aadhaar number and bank account details. Make sure the details you provide match your Aadhaar card details.
• Review the details for accuracy and then submit the form.
• The details you provided will be verified by the concerned authorities. You will receive an update, and your Aadhaar and bank account will be linked once the verification is done.

How to Update Phone Number, Address, Bank Account in PM KISAN Yojana?

The beneficiaries of the scheme may be required to update their information, whether it be a change of phone number or address or bank account. Here is how a farmer can update the crucial details.

How to Update Phone Number in PM KISAN Yojana?

The need to change a phone number can arise in any situation. In this case, the beneficiary farmer would have to change the phone number in PM KISAN records. Here is how the beneficiary farmer updates the PMKISAN phone number.

• Go to the official PM KISAN website by visiting pmkisan.gov.in
• On the homepage of the website, go to the “Farmers Corner”
• Click on “Update Mobile Number”
• Enter your Aadhaar number or Registration number, write the captcha code and press “search”
• Complete the steps next, and you will receive an OTP on your registered number
• Enter the OTP, and your mobile phone number will be updated

A farmer can update his address and bank account in the PM KISAN records by completing the eKYC.

How to Check the Beneficiary Status of the PM KISAN Scheme?

If at any point you wish to know your PM KISAN beneficiary status, here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Go to the official Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana website by entering the URL pmkisan.gov.in
2. Look for the “Farmers Corner” tab from the menu bar on the home page.
3. From the drop-down menu, click on the “Beneficiary Status”.
4. The eligible farmer can now search for the record using his or her registered Aadhar number and Bank Account Number or Mobile Number and click on the “Get Data” button.
5. In case the farmer is enrolled for the PMKISAN scheme, the beneficiary status of the farmer is displayed. The registration details, bank account details, and payment details status are available for a registered farmer’s record.
6. In case a farmer is not registered in the system, the beneficiary status will show a message “Either details are not registered in the portal or rejected due to wrong details”

Conclusion

The PM KISAN Samman Nidhi Yojana is one of the few social security schemes for small-time farmers located in both rural and urban regions. The regular source of income provided by the initiative can prevent farmers from gravitating towards unauthorised money lending practices that are often detrimental to their financial situation.

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