Amid Covid-19, govt plans advance cash payout for PM-Kisan beneficiaries

Under PM-KISAN, the government provides an income support of ₹6000 a year to farmers with a valid enrolment, paid in three equal cash transfers of ₹2000 -- one every four months.

The Narendra Modi government will make an advance payout of its universal cash-for-farmers programme, PM-KISAN, between April 1, 2 or 3, rather than in June, responding to the coronavirus epidemic, which could upend agriculture, the country’s largest employer.

The PM Kisan programme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 24, 2019, when the first instalment was paid.(PTI)

Under PM-KISAN, the government provides an income support of ₹6000 a year to farmers with a valid enrolment, paid in three equal cash transfers of ₹2000 -- one every four months. It was launched by the Prime Minister on February 24, 2019, when the first instalment was paid.

Nearly 80.5 million farmers will be paid about ₹16000 crore in all, an official requesting anonymity said, adding that the Centre is gearing up to pay advances of all federally funded and partially-federally-funded cash and in-kind subsidies, such as old-age pensions and ration.

Small agri business owners will need access to emergency grants and millions in loans, analysts say. Additional money needs to be set aside for the rural unemployed too, according to them.

The cash transfer under PM-KISAN is an unconditional handout, meaning that it doesn’t require any proof of how recipients use it, but payments are usually timed with sowing seasons to help finance agricultural inputs. Inputs refer to all materials needed for cultivation by farmers, from seeds to fertilisers.

The proposal for the advance payment of the PM-KISAN tranche, the first this financial year, from the agriculture ministry, has been approved by the Prime Minister. The finance ministry is ready to release the amount to the agriculture ministry and so are all states to facilitate it, the official cited above said.

The World Health Organization has lauded India’s efforts to curb the pandemic shrivelling Asia’s third largest economy, apart from devastating lives. The current 21-day lockdown period, however, has walled off the rural sector from the urban, from where rural incomes flow. India’s has recorded more than 600 cases of Covid-19.

All chief secretaries have finished providing the Centre with their respective “lots” for the PM-KISAN tranche, a jargon for payout data of each eligible farmer, statewise, such as land-holding, biometric and bank account details.

The cash transfer takes the direct benefit transfer, or DBT mode. This means all 80.5 million farmers will simultaneously get ₹2000 each in their bank accounts through electronic release by federal authorities.

There could still be challenges. Aadhaar-based enrolment and cash transfers, slow internet connections in many rural centres and messy land records have slowed the PM-KISAN programme, the farm ministry told a parliamentary panel in January.

When teething problems began showing, the government relaxed the requirement of Aadhaar till November 30, 2019. But all farmers must complete their Aadhaar details after this date to get cash transfers. The government has made Aadhaar compulsory for all welfare handouts to plug leakages.

Eligible farmer families are identified on the basis of operational land holding data according to the agricultural Census Data 2015-16, which is then extrapolated to 2018-19, an official said. It is the job of state governments to provide accurate beneficiary data and payments are continuously updated.

The country has 140 million operational land holdings, which refers to the number of land parcels owned by total households. The eligible farmer count shows that registrations of about 59 million farmers are yet to be authenticated.

“This decision is obviously welcome. We also need income lifelines for all vulnerable sections, such as the urban manual workers who have migrated out and also agricultural labourers,” said Manoj Kumar Panda of the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University.