UP tops PM Kisan scheme with total payout of more than Rs 10,000 crore

UP beneficiary count expected to hit 29 million post 2021 Census

Uttar Pradesh has topped the Centre’s flagship PM Kisan scheme with total payout of more than Rs 10,000 crore to the beneficiary farmers.

Since, nearly Rs 36,000 crore have so far been transferred to farmers’ bank accounts pan India under the scheme, the payment of Rs 10,000 crore in UP accounts for nearly 28 per cent of disbursal.

Addressing a news conference here this afternoon, UP agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi said the total number of state beneficiaries under PM Kisan is likely to touch 29 million after the 2021 Census from the current estimated count of 23.3 million farmers.

“So far, the data of 18.3 million UP farmers have already been forwarded to the Centre under PM Kisan, of which over 17 million farmers have received payments,” he said. He further said that the process of enrolling beneficiaries and ensuring the payout to left out beneficiaries was on.

The scheme entitles beneficiaries to payment of Rs 6,000 annually, payable in equal installment of Rs 2,000 every four months (Dec-Mar, Apr-July and Aug-Nov cycles).

Shahi said 17.29 million UP farmers had received Rs 3,458 crore as the first installment of PM Kisan. The corresponding figure for 2nd, 3rd and 4th installments stood at 15.93 million farmers and Rs 3,187 crore; 12.47 million farmers and Rs 2,494 crore; and 5.26 million farmers and Rs 1,052 crore, respectively. As such, total payout under the PM Kisan in UP stands at more than Rs 10,190 crore.

Last week, union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar had informed the Rajya Sabha that around 76 million farmers in India had been granted benefit under PM Kisan till November 30.

Initially, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM Kisan) was targetted to benefit 120 million small and marginal farmers, of which UP topped with 21.5 million or 18% of beneficiaries.

However, in its first cabinet meeting on May 31, as promised by the ruling BJP in its 2019 election manifesto, the Narendra Modi 2.0 government had removed all preconditions and brought all farmers, numbering 145 million across India, under its ambit.

Meanwhile, between October 1 and December 10, 2019, more than 5,510 incident of stubble burning had been reported in UP. The state government had taken action against 218 individuals, apart from 526 government officials and employees.

“The government also filed 1,867 police reports in cases of stubble burning in UP so far even as 126 accused persons were arrested,” the minister informed.

Moreover, the government slapped fines totalling more than Rs 2.37 crore on the accused, of which Rs 66 lakh have already been realised.

Shahi further underlined that the Adityanath government was committed to following the directives of the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal (NGT), and was actively taking steps to curb such incidents.