 "Narendra Singh Tomar")
The number of beneficiaries of the Rs 6,000 per year cash doles given to farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme has increased from 3.16 crore at the inception in 2018 to 8.42 crore now, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
Under the PM-KISAN scheme, the Centre pays Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments. The scheme was launched in February 2019 but was made applicable from December 2018.
According to the written information provided by Tomar in reply to a question, the number of beneficiaries peaked at 10.45 crore during April-July this year when the 11th instalment under the scheme was paid.
So far, 8.42 crore farmers have received the 12th instalment during this fiscal's second cycle that began in August. It was not clear whether all eligible beneficiaries have been paid the 12th instalments.
"The number of beneficiaries under PM-KISAN Scheme has increased from 3.16 crore in the 1st period (December 2018 March 2019) to 8.42 crore in the 12th period(August 2022 November 2022)," Tomar said in the written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
As per the data, the number of beneficiaries in the first instalment stood at over 3.16 crore. The number increased to 6 crore in the second instalment, nearly 7.66 crore in the third, 8.20 crore in the fourth, 9.26 crore in the fifth, 9.71 crore in the sixth, 9.84 crore in the seventh, 9.97 crore in the eighth, 10.34 crore in the ninth, 10.41 crore in the 10th and 10.45 crore in the 11th instalment.
PM-KISAN is a central sector scheme to supplement the financial needs of land-holding farmers. A financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year is transferred into the bank accounts of farmer families through direct benefit transfer. Certain categories of higher economic status are excluded from the scheme.
"More than Rs 2 lakh crore has been released so far to approximately 11.3 crore eligible farmer families as of now," Tomar said in reply to a separate query.
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