As many as 91,128 small and marginal farmers in Madurai district received the first instalment of ₹2,000 under the recently launched PM-KISAN scheme of the Union government on Sunday.

Under the scheme, a sum of ₹6,000, in three instalments, will be deposited into the account of farmers who have less than five acre of land and meet certain other income criteria. The transfer of money to first list of beneficiaries happened across the country on Sunday.

Speaking to the media, Collector S. Natarajan said applications had been received from 2.15 lakh farmers so far. “Of this, 91,128 beneficiaries have been first selected,” he said. With 21,162 farmers, the maximum number of beneficiaries were from Melur taluk while the minimum was from Madurai West (1,366).

An official clarified that this did not mean the remaining applications were rejected. “We have to scrutinise the applications and upload the data from approved applications online. It is a time-consuming process and the work is in progress,” an official said, adding that fresh applications were also still being received.

At a function organised in Madurai Collectorate, the benefit was distributed to 100 farmers by Revenue Minister R.B. Udhayakumar in the presence of Collector.