New Delhi, March 11 The Centre on Wednesday urged farmers to verify their details on the PM-KISAN portal and complete e-KYC as soon as possible, ahead of the release of the 22nd installment worth Rs 18,640 crore on March 13.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will digitally transfer the amount to 9.32 crore registered farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme from Guwahati, Assam.
Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan appealed to farmers across the country, particularly those from Assam, to check the status of their information on the PM-KISAN portal.
"If necessary, complete e-KYC as soon as possible, so that the benefit of the 22nd installment to be released on March 13 can reach their accounts on time," he said in a statement.
To assist beneficiaries, a 'Know Your Status (KYS)' module has been made available on the portal, consolidating payment status, eligibility, land seeding, Aadhaar linking and e-KYC status in one place.
The government has also launched a face authentication-based mobile app enabling farmers to complete e-KYC from home, without requiring an OTP or biometric device. State and village-level nodal officers are providing additional support.
The ministry's AI-based voice chatbot 'Kisan-eMitra' is offering round-the-clock assistance in 11 regional languages and has so far addressed queries from lakhs of farmers.
To weed out ineligible beneficiaries, a robust verification system has been put in place, while a voluntary surrender facility has been introduced for affluent farmers. A reactivation mechanism has also been set up for those who may have inadvertently surrendered their benefits.
Of the 22nd installment's recipients, more than 2.15 crore are women farmers. Under the scheme, eligible farmer families receive Rs 6,000 annually in three equal instalments, transferred directly to bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer mechanism.
With this release, the cumulative amount disbursed under PM-KISAN will cross Rs 4.27 lakh crore.