More Than 2.25 Crore Farmers Receive Second Installment Of Rs 2,000 Under PM Kisan Scheme Since 1 April

A little over 2.25 crore farmers in the country have received the second installment of Rs 2,000 each under the PM-Kisan scheme. The disbursal of the second installment began on 1 April, reports Financial Express.

Of the total figure, 1.08 crore recipient farmers hail from Uttar Pradesh (UP) which is an electorally important state.

When the Rs 75,000 crore PM-Kisan scheme was announced by the then Finance Minister Piyush Goyal during his interim budget speech, he had said that the scheme would benefit 12 crore farmers, with each receiving Rs 6,000 in a year in three equal installments. The scheme took effect retrospectively from 1 December 2019.

According to the report, Modi government’s intention was to reach as many as eligible farmers as possible before the elections and for this, it had firmed up a list of some 4.76 crore farmers for the cash transfer before Election Commission’s model code of conduct came into effect on 10 March 2019.

Non-cooperation from some opposition-ruled states like West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh also impacted the government’s plans. The deployment of the central and state government staff for election duty further undermined the Centre’s efforts to transfer the initial two installments to all people on the beneficiary list firmed up.