New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) Over Rs 4.46 lakh crore has been disbursed since the launch of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in 2019, making it one of the world’s largest direct benefit transfer (DBT) initiatives, an official fact-sheet said on Saturday.

The 23rd instalment of the PM-KISAN scheme was disbursed at Tarakeswar, Hooghly, West Bengal, on Saturday.

Nearly 9.44 crore eligible farmers, including more than 2.18 crore women, received around Rs 18,880 crore in direct financial assistance.

PM-KISAN is a centrally sponsored scheme launched on February 24, 2019. The scheme aims to provide assured income support to landholding farmer families nationwide with cultivable land. Under the scheme, each eligible farmer family receives annual financial assistance of ₹6,000. This is disbursed in three equal instalments of ₹2,000 through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism into Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts.

“So far, more than Rs 4.46 lakh crore has been disbursed to eligible farmer families across the country through 23 instalments. The benefits of the scheme are provided to farmers upon seeding of land records in the PM-KISAN portal,” the fact-sheet suggested.

They are also required to link their bank accounts with Aadhaar and complete the e-KYC verification. Reflecting the government’s continued commitment to strengthening farmers’ income security, the Union Budget 2026–27 has allocated Rs 60,000 crore for the PM-KISAN scheme.

The scheme seeks to increase the income of small and marginal farmers by providing financial support for agricultural inputs.

This helps in improving crop health and productivity. Providing direct financial assistance also helps reduce farmers’ reliance on informal credit sources and supports the continuity of agricultural activities.

“PM-KISAN stands out as one of the largest Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) initiatives globally. This underscores its significant institutional mechanism for delivering financial support directly to farmers. More than 23 per cent of beneficiaries are women, which highlights the inclusive outreach of this scheme,” said the official statement.

The Government has taken several initiatives to ensure eligible farmers can easily access PM-KISAN benefits.

More than 5 lakh Common Service Centres have been onboarded to support farmer registration and e-KYC completion. Special saturation drives have also expanded coverage under the scheme.

During the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, more than 1 crore eligible farmers were added under PM-KISAN. Over 25 lakh farmers were added under the Government’s 100-day initiative. A special drive in September 2024 further enabled the inclusion of over 30 lakh farmers by clearing pending self-registration cases.

—IANS

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