Parliament Question: Payment through PM-KISAN portal

O.I.H. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2408 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13/03/2026 PAYMENT THROUGH PM-KISAN PORTAL 2408. SMT MAYA NAROLIYA: Will the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare be pleased to state: (a) whether the digital platform like the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) portal is being used for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payments to more than 11 crore beneficiaries across the country; (b) the key features of the Aadhaar seeding, authentication and fraud prevention mechanisms in the PM-KISAN portal; and (c) the manner in which these digital initiatives will help promote financial inclusion and ensure timely and transparent delivery of income support to small and marginal farmers? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE (SHRI BHAGIRATH CHOUDHARY) (a): The PM-KISAN scheme is a central sector scheme launched in February 2019 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister to supplement the financial needs of farmers with cultivable land- holding. 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 certain exclusions relating to higher economic status. A farmer-centric digital infrastructure has ensured the benefits of the scheme reach all the farmers across the country without involvement of any intermediaries. Maintaining absolute transparency in registering and verifying beneficiaries, the Government of India has disbursed over ₹ 4.09 lakh Cr. through 21 installments since inception of the Scheme. During the release of 21st instalment of the PM-KIsan scheme, more than 9.35 crore farmers received the benefit. (b) & (c): All beneficiaries under PM-KISAN are Aadhaar authenticated. Further, all the payments are made through Aadhaar Based Payment System mode directly into the bank account seeded with beneficiaries’ Aadhaar. The Department regularly conducts focused saturation drives in coordination with States/UTs, Common Service Centres (CSCs), and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to facilitate Aadhaar seeding of bank accounts. Also, farmers are intimated through SMS for Aadhaar seeding of their bank accounts to ensure uninterrupted disbursement of benefits under PM-KISAN. The Government of India has undertaken several digital key initiatives for inclusion of eligible farmers and ensure timely and transparent delivery of benefits under the scheme. These includes:i. e-KYC saturation campaigns were conducted with the support of CSCs. Over 5 lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs) have been onboarded to facilitate registrations and meet mandatory requirements, including eKYC. ii. 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 eKYC. iii. 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. iv. 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 userfriendly. 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. v. The PM-KISAN portal, being a critical platform for delivering benefits directly to farmers, requires high standards of security and controlled access. Accordingly, the PM-KISAN Security Module has been revamped to prevent misuse and ensure access only to authorised personnel. Biometric authentication has been integrated into the login process for officials at all levels. Further, a two-layer approval mechanism (Maker–Checker) has been introduced for creation and modification of user accounts. In addition, the use of official Government email IDs has been made mandatory, and for each user creation Aadhaar number, mobile number, and email ID is required to ensure accountability and prevent duplication. vi. 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. *****