Parliament Question: Exclusions of beneficiaries under PM-KISAN

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3226 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20/03/2026 EXCLUSIONS OF BENEFICIARIES UNDER PM-KISAN 3226 Shri Saket Gokhale Will the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare be pleased to state: (a) the total number of farmers dropped from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM- KISAN) beneficiary list over the last three years due to mandatory e-KYC and Aadhaar-seeding hurdles; (b) whether systemic technical glitches have denied legitimate financial support to millions of marginalized and illiterate farmers; and (c) the steps taken to conduct physical verification to reinstate wrongfully excluded beneficiaries? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR) (a) to (c): The PM-KISAN scheme is a central sector scheme launched in February 2019 to supplement the financial needs of farmers with cultivable landholding. Under the scheme, a financial benefit of ₹ 6,000/- per year is transferred in three equal instalments, into the Aadhaar seeded bank accounts of farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode. Under the PM-KISAN Scheme, cultivable landholding is primary eligibility criteria to receive benefit of the scheme subject to some certain exclusion s relating to higher income status. The Government has disbursed over ₹4.27 lakh crore to the eligible farmers through 22 instalments since inception of the Scheme. To ensure that the benefits are provided only to the eligible beneficiaries, land seeding, Aadhaar-based payment and e-KYC have been made mandatory under the PM-KISAN scheme. Land seeding was made mandatory from the 12th instalment period (August–November 2022) to verify and authenticate whether the beneficiary is the actual cultivable landholder as per the State land records. Aadhaar-based payment became mandatory from the 13th instalment period (December 2022–March 2023) to ensure that benefits are transferred directly to the intended beneficiary’s Aadhaar-linked bank account, eliminating errors and mis-directed payments. Subsequently, e-KYC was made compulsory from the 15th instalment period (August–November 2023) to confirm the identification and alive status of the beneficiary. It is the mandate of the State Governments to ensure completion of these mandatory requirements for all eligible beneficiaries. The list of eligible beneficiaries is uploaded by the respective State/UT Governments on PM-Kisan portal, at the time of each instalment. The verification process is conducted by the field level officials of respective States/UTs to re-verify the status of beneficiary as per guidelines of the scheme and mark them eligible accordingly. The names of the beneficiaries who are not found eligible are removed from the list. This is due to various reasons including non fulfillment of mandatory requirements (land seeding, eKYC, Aadhaar seeded bank account), deceased beneficiary, change in status of cultivable landownership, members of same family receiving benefits and NRIs. The number of farmers (as on 16/03/2026), who are excluded due to pending e-KYC, Aadhaar Seeding with bank accounts or land seeding issues are as under:-Reasons for stopping payment due to non-fulfillment of Number of beneficiaries mandatory conditions Land seeding 16,52,379 Aadhaar seeding with bank account 23,53,748 eKYC 32,94,609 Only when the farmers fulfill the mandatory provisions, they become eligible for the benefits under PM-Kisan. The Government has undertaken various steps to facilitate that eligible and genuine farmers are able to join the scheme. These steps include:  e-KYC saturation campaigns were conducted with the support of CSCs. Over 5 lakh Common Service Centers (CSCs) have been onboarded to facilitate registrations and meet mandatory requirements, including e-KYC.  Face Authentication–based e-KYC facility was added to the PM-KISAN mobile app, in June 2023 enabling beneficiaries to complete their e-KYC from home as well as perform e-KYC for up to 100 other farmers. This facility has specially helped old age beneficiaries and also the beneficiaries who live in remote areas, to complete their e-KYC.  Under the scheme, through regular review meetings with States/UTs have also been pursued to ensure completion of mandatory requirements by beneficiaries i.e. land seeding, Aadhaar-linked bank accounts, and e-KYC in coordination with CSCs, IPPB and banks.  Village Nodal Officers are appointed by the respective State/UTs to address farmers' issues and around 1.0 Lakhs VNOs covering over 4.0 lakhs villages, have been designated at village level to assist the farmers in completing their mandatory formalities. They can verify the land details of farmers and complete e-KYC of farmers.  A voice-based PM-KISAN AI Chatbot (Kisan e-Mitra) was developed by the Government. This Chatbot provides quick, accurate, and clear responses to farmers' queries round the clock in their native languages, making the system more accessible and user friendly. It is accessible on all platforms such as web, mobile, etc. The Kisan eMitra Chatbot currently operates in 11 languages—English, Hindi, Odia, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Gujarati, Punjabi, Kannada, Telugu, and Marathi. This Chatbot also provides information to farmers for completing their mandatory requirements and has successfully resolved over 95 lakh queries from 53 lakh farmers.  A major nationwide saturation drive was undertaken from 15th November 2023 under the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra (VBSY), during which, more than 1.0 Cr. eligible farmers were included under PM-KISAN. Further, under the new Government’s 100 days initiative, over 25 lakh eligible farmers were added under the PM-KISAN scheme. Additionally, a special drive was conducted in September 2024 to clear the pending self-registration cases, which resulted in the addition of over 30 lakh new farmers. *****