About the scheme

• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is a Central Sector Scheme with 100% funding from Government of India.
• Aim : To augment the income of the farmers by providing income support to all landholding farmers’ families across the country.
• The Scheme initially provided income support to all Small and Marginal Farmers’ families across the country, holding cultivable land upto 2 hectares. Its ambit was later expanded w.e.f. 01.06.2019 to cover all farmer families in the country irrespective of the size of their land holdings. 
• Under the Scheme an amount of Rs. 6000/- per year is transferred in three 4-monthly installments of Rs. 2000/- directly into the bank accounts of the farmers, subject to certain exclusion criteria relating to higher income status.
• Eligibility : All landholder farmer’s families in the country are eligible for the PM-Kisan Scheme subject to the prevalent exclusion criteria. Farmers who do not own any land are not eligible for this scheme.
• Excluded from the scheme
  • Institutional land holders,
  • Farmer families holding constitutional posts,
  • Serving or retired officers and employees of state/central government as well as PSUs and government autonomous bodies.
  • Professionals like doctors, engineers and lawyers as well as retired pensioners with a monthly pension of over Rs 10,000 and those who paid income tax in the last assessment year.
• Identification of beneficiaries: The responsibility of identifying the eligible beneficiary farmers and uploading their data on PM-KISAN portal lies entirely with the state governments.

Why in News?

• The Government has commemorated the third anniversary of the launch of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme.

Reference:

1. https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=Rs-1.35-lakh-crore-transferred-directly-to-more-than-11-crore-small-and-medium-farmers-under-PM-Kisan-Samman-Nidhi-Scheme&id=421773