PM-KISAN scheme: Mallikarjun Kharge claims no. of beneficiaries decreasing with every instalment

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday attacked the Modi government over the PM-KISAN scheme, alleging that the number of beneficiary farmers has gone down with every instalment. Kharge posted a graph on Twitter elucidating his point.

"It is the policy of the Modi government to take away the rights of farmers who provide food! There was big talk about benefiting 14.5 crore farmers from the much talked about PM-KISAN scheme," Kharge said in a tweet in Hindi.

The truth is that instalment after instalment, the number of beneficiary farmers went on decreasing, he said.

"Mr. Modi, by taking away the rights of the farmers, who are you benefitting," the Congress president asked.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), eligible farmers are provided with a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each every four months. The funds are directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

PM-KISAN is a central sector scheme with 100 per cent funding from the central government. State governments and union territory administrations identify the farmer families that are eligible for support as per the scheme guidelines.