Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi released the 19th instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme on 24th February, 2025 in Bhagalpur, Bihar. During the event over 9.8 crore farmers including 2.41 crore female farmers across the country will be benefitted through the 19th instalment release, receiving direct financial assistance exceeding ₹22,000 crore through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) without involvement of any middlemen, reinforcing the Government’s commitment to farmer welfare and agricultural prosperity.[1] With this installment, the scheme will be supporting farmers nationwide and further reaffirming the government’s commitment to rural development and agricultural prosperity.
Previously, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi released the 18th instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme on 5th October 2024 in Washim, Maharashtra. This significant event witnessed over 9.4 crore farmers across the country receiving direct financial benefits, amounting to more than ₹20,000 crore.[2]
The PM-KISAN scheme is a central sector scheme launched in February 2019 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister to supplement the financial needs of land-holding farmers. Under the scheme, a financial benefit of Rs 6,000/- per year is transferred in three equal instalments, into the Aadhaar seeded bank accounts of farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.[3]
A farmer-centric digital infrastructure has ensured the benefits of the scheme reach all the farmers across the country without involvement of any middlemen. Maintaining absolute transparency in registering and verifying beneficiaries, the Government of India has disbursed over Rs 3.46 lakh Cr. in 18 instalments since inception, as of February 2025.[4]
Objectives
With a view to augment the income of the Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs), the PM-KISAN scheme aims to:
- Supplement the financial needs of the SMFs in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, commensurate with the anticipated farm income at the end of each crop cycle.
- This would also protect them from falling in the clutches of moneylenders for meeting such expenses and ensure their continuance in the farming activities.[5]
Technological Advancements
With an objective to make the scheme more efficient, effective, and transparent, continuous improvements in a farmer-centric digital infrastructure have been made to ensure the benefits of the scheme reach all the farmers across the country without any middleman involvement.
The PM-KISAN mobile app was launched on 24th February 2020. This has been developed with an emphasis on greater transparency and to reach more farmers. The PM-KISAN mobile app servers a simple and efficient extension to the PM-KISAN web portal.[6] In 2023, the app was launched with an additional “Face Authentication Feature”. This enabled remote farmers to do e-KYC by scanning their face without OTP or fingerprint.
The portal and mobile app offer services like self-registration, benefit status tracking, and facial authentication-based e-KYC. Farmers in remote areas can complete e-KYC via face scans, with provisions to assist neighbours.
Over 5 lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs) have been onboarded to facilitate registrations and meet mandatory requirements. Additionally, a robust grievance redressal system was established on the portal, and an AI chatbot, Kisan-eMitra, launched in September 2023, provides instant query resolution in local languages regarding payments, registration, and eligibility. Farmers can also assist 100 other farmers in their neighbourhood to complete e-KYC at their doorstep. In addition, the Government of India has also extended the facility for completing e-KYC of farmers to State Government officials, allowing each official to do e-KYC for 500 farmers.[8]
