The exclusion list also includes all institutional land holders and farmer families in which one or more of members belong to following categories: former and present holders of Constitutional posts, former and present ministers/MPs/MLAs/ MLCs/ mayors.
The Centre plans to transfer Rs 4,000 to small and marginal farmers under the PM-Kisan scheme by the first week of April, well before the Lok Sabha polls start. The transfer of Rs 2,000 to the bank accounts of farmers will commence from February 24 under the income support scheme and preparations are on to cover as high as 1 crore farmers on the first day of the launch, official sources said. The second instalment of the same amount may be transferred in the first week of April, they added.
“Though the enrollment on the PM-Kisan portal is yet to start, data are currently verified by the states and we expect to transfer the first instalment smoothly,” a government official said. Whatever data will be verified by February 20 will be considered for the direct transfer scheme on February 24, he said. Farmers, who will be getting the first instalment will also be eligible to receive the second tranche due for April-July period, he added.
The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been working with the states to compile the data. Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are the leading states which have taken immediate steps in generating the database of small and marginal farmers, officials said. Revenue officials at the village/panchayat levels have been asked in Uttar Pradesh to get the data of all small and marginal farmers who have less than 5 acre of land. The state has also been insisting on a self declaration by farmers, sources said.
Though the Aadhaar number is not mandatory in the first instalment, in the subsequent transfer of the Central aid, all farmers have to submit the bank account-linked Aadhaar number, officials said. To make the transfer of money less cumbersome and to ensure it reaches the farmers, the Centre has asked the states to keep documents with themselves. The state governments will also carry out the verification process.
Finance minister Piyush Goyal had announced in the Interim Budget the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) – under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three equal instalments directly to bank accounts of 12 crore small and marginal farmers. The scheme was made effective from December 1, 2018, so that by March 31, the first instalment is completed, making farmers eligible for the second tranche from April.
Transfer of the second instalment during the poll process will not be affected as the scheme was rolled out this fiscal. The model code of conduct may kick in from next month once the Election Commission announces the poll schedule. The Lok Sabha elections are due in April-May.
All serving or retired officers in the government sector including at the state level, pensioners drawing monthly emolument of Rs 10,000 or more, income tax payers and professionals such as doctors and lawyers won’t be eligible for the Rs 6,000/annum support. The benefit of the scheme would be provided to all small and marginal landholder farmer families who collectively own cultivable land of up to 2 hectare as per land records of the state concerned, subject to exclusions, the agriculture ministry said last week.
For the purpose of exclusion, a state/UT government can certify the eligibility of the beneficiary based on self declaration by them. In case of incorrect self declaration, beneficiary shall be liable for recovery of transferred financial benefit and other penal actions as per law, the ministry said.
The exclusion list also includes all institutional land holders and farmer families in which one or more of members belong to following categories: former and present holders of Constitutional posts, former and present ministers/MPs/MLAs/ MLCs/ mayors.
