(a) whether the Government has made Aadhaar card mandatory for receiving money under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana;
(b) if so, whether the Government has fixed any time period to link Aadhaar Card with bank accounts;
(c) if so, the details thereof;
(d) the number of farmers to whom payments have been made under the said scheme so far; and
(e) the number of farmers to whom payments have yet to be made, the details thereof, State-wise?
MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
???? ??? ????? ?????? ?????? (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)
(a) to (c): Only possession of Aadhaar number was optional for release of 1st Installment under the scheme pertaining to the 4-monthly period December, 2018 - March, 2019. For release of 2nd installment pertaining to the 4-monthly period April - July, 2019 and onwards, Aadhaar seeding of beneficiaries’ data was compulsory, except for the States of Assam, Meghalaya and J&K where Aadhar penetration is miniscule. In view of delay in Aadhaar seeding of beneficiaries’ data on the part of the State / UT Governments, this condition was relaxed and made applicable for release of 3rd installment pertaining to the 4-monthly period August - November, 2019 and onwards, except for the States of Assam, Meghalaya and J&K which were given exemption till 31.3.2020. However, possession of Aadhaar number remained compulsory for release of 2nd installment. This requirement was further relaxed till 30th November, 2019. The mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeding of beneficiaries’ data continues to be applicable for release of all installments falling due w.e.f. 1st December, 2019 onwards.
(d): As on 30.11.2019, 7,60,65,061 beneficiaries in the county have been transferred the financial benefit under PM-Kisan Scheme.
(e): The total number of farmers in the country are only estimates made on the basis of the Agriculture Census, 2015-16. Agriculture census is conducted on a quinquennial basis following census-cum-survey approach to collect data on number of operational holdings in the country. Based on these estimated numbers of farmers, the State/UT-wise number of farmers who have not yet been given the benefit is enclosed at Annexure.