The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, launched in February 2019 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, is a centrally sponsored initiative aimed at meeting the financial needs of farmers owning cultivable land. Under the scheme, eligible farmers receive annual financial assistance of ₹6,000, disbursed in three equal installments directly into their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system. The benefit is extended only to landholding farmers, with certain high-income categories excluded.
To ensure benefits reach farmers without intermediaries, a farmer-focused digital infrastructure has been developed. With a transparent registration and verification process, over ₹3.90 lakh crore has been distributed in 20 installments to date. Payments are made directly through DBT based on verified data received from states and union territories.
For smoother registration and efficient implementation, the scheme has integrated advanced systems like PFMS, UIDAI, Income Tax Department databases, land record seeding, Aadhaar-based payments, and e-KYC. Since the 13th installment in December 2022, Aadhaar-based payments have been made mandatory, ensuring transfers go directly to the farmer’s Aadhaar-linked account. This step has resolved issues related to account changes or bank mergers, achieving a 99.92% transaction success rate in the 19th installment.
In cases where transactions fail, payments are reprocessed periodically. Common reasons include removal of Aadhaar from the NPCI mapper, lack of Aadhaar-account linkage, or closed bank accounts. Farmers and respective state/UT authorities are promptly notified to correct such errors, after which payments are released in the next installment.
Dedicated Grievance Redressal System:
For quick resolution of farmer grievances, the scheme offers multiple channels including the CPGRAMS portal, PM-KISAN portal, email support, and physical receipts. In September 2023, an AI-powered “Kisan e-Mitra” chatbot was launched, offering 24x7 assistance in farmers’ preferred languages. Available across web and mobile platforms in 11 languages—including English, Hindi, Odia, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Gujarati, Punjabi, Kannada, Telugu, and Marathi—the chatbot has successfully resolved over 9.5 million queries from 5.3 million farmers as of 15 July 2025.
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