Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Tuesday regretted that non-BJP ruled states, including West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, have not certified even a single farmer for transfer of the first installment of Rs 2,000 under the PM-KISAN scheme.

In the interim Budget 2019-20, the central government had announced the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme under which Rs 6,000 per year will be given in three instalments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to two hectares.

"Let politics not come in way of farmers' interest. West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh & Delhi govts. have not certified a single beneficiary for the PM-KISAN payment. Karnataka has certified only 17 farmers," Jaitley said in a tweet.

The government has earmarked Rs 20,000 crore for disbursal among 12 crore farmers under the scheme in the current financial year.

As per a government release, Rs 4,366.41 crore have been transferred under the scheme to about 2.18 crore farmers till March 7.

Under the scheme, Rs 6,000 will be released in three 4-monthly installments of Rs 2,000 over the year to beneficiaries.

The scheme was formally launched at national level by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the February 24, 2019 at Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.

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