Originally intended for small and marginal farmers, the PM-KISAN was later extended to all farmers who owned lan
| Photo Credit: RAO GN

The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), which provides yearly income support of ₹6,000 to eligible farmer families in three instalments, has been through highs and lows both in terms of coverage and payout. It became operational from December 2018.

Originally intended for small and marginal farmers, the scheme, which was launched in February 2019, was later extended to all farmers who owned land when the National Democratic Alliance retained power in May 2019.

The government made it clear in Parliament that there was no proposal to expand the scheme further to bring in tenant farmers under the fold.

At the time of expansion in 2019, the scheme was expected to cost ₹87,217.5 crore to the public exchequer for 2019-20 with the total number of beneficiaries being around 14.5 crore. However, in the last six years, neither did the amount disbursed exceed ₹70,000 crore during any year, nor did the number of beneficiaries touch the 14.5-crore mark.

As Table 1 shows, allocation for the scheme in the beginning of 2019-20 and 2020-21 was ₹75,000 crore each. But in both years, the expenditure on account of disbursal ranged from around ₹49,000 crore to ₹61,000 crore.

Table 1 | The table shows the allocation for the scheme and the amount transferred since 2018-19

The year-on-year growth rate for 2020-21 was close to 25% while it moderated to around 10% next year. However, it was in that year (2021-22) that the absolute figure of payout was the highest (around ₹67,150 crore).

With the authorities tightening coverage of the scheme, the annual aggregate amount disbursed began going down and saw a 13% dip in 2022-23. Last year, the amount was ₹62,000 crore. Table 2 gives an account of the varying number of beneficiaries at the time of payment of instalment at a given time.

Table 2 | The table shows the number of beneficiaries at the time of select instalments of payment

Since the scheme was inaugurated, the government has made payments 18 times. The last payment was made in October 2024. The number of beneficiaries started rising in the second year of implementation and this trend continued until the fourth year. Since then, governments, both at the Centre and in States, have been weeding out ineligible persons. At the same time, they have been taking steps to “saturate the scheme with all eligible farmers.”

A “major saturation drive” commenced on November 15, 2023 to include more than 1 crore farmers. Another round was carried out from June 2024 and more than 25 lakh farmers were made beneficiaries.

At the all-India level, the total number of beneficiaries, at the time of the release of the 18th payout, was approximately 9.59 crore. Of them, farmers from Scheduled Castes (SCs) accounted for 12% and those from Scheduled Tribes (STs) accounted for 9%.

While women constituted a little more than 20% of SCs and others, their share among STs was around 29%. In December last year, the government informed the Lok Sabha that it did not maintain any separate data for Other Backward Classes, who were included in the category of “others.”

Table 3 | The table shows the year-wise distribution of funds in 10 States from different regions of the country. Since the scheme came into effect in December 2018, the table shows numbers from 2019 as it was the first full inaugural year

A perusal of the data, as given in Table 3, on the year-wise distribution of funds in 10 States reveals that all of them have experienced ups and downs.

For instance, Tamil Nadu, an important rice-producing State, had 44.6 lakh beneficiaries in 2020-21; now it has 21.9 lakh. The amount disbursed rose only to go down — from around ₹2,594 crore during 2020-21 to ₹1,439 crore during 2023-24. In Manipur, the number of beneficiaries decreased by about 70% between 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Farmers have been demanding a hike in the annual payout. While considering this, the government should incentivise those who efficiently use water, electricity, and other inputs during production.

Source: The data for the charts were sourced from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha replies and Budget documents

ramakrishnan.t@thehindu.co.in

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and and Ajit Pawar during the foundation stone laying and inauguration ceremony of multiple developmental projects in Mumbai on July 13, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Mahayuti government on July 23 welcomed the Union Budget for allocating funds and projects worth over ₹8,000 crore for Maharashtra, while the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) criticised it for focusing mainly on Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, States ruled by allies of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

Shiv Sena president and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repaid the trust placed in him by every Indian and brought relief to the common man by making major changes in the tax structure. He also referred to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remark that it is a “Navratna Budget” focusing on farmers, women, youth, skill development, employment, infrastructure development, urban development, social justice, and ‘Developed India’.

‘Too little, too late’

However, NCP (SP) working president and Baramati MP Supriya Sule alleged that Maharashtra has been neglected despite the BJP-led Mahayuti government depending on the support of two other political outfits. She said only two States seem to be “Ladki (adorable)” for the Centre — Bihar and Andhra Pradesh — alluding to the Maharashtra government’s Ladki Behan and Ladka Bhau schemes introduced in the State Budget.

“In 2014, Chandrababu Naidu had made a request for aid, but he did not receive support then. Now, it’s too little, too late. The credit for this shift should go to India’s voters. When they [the BJP] had 303 MPs, they did not prioritise helping Andhra Pradesh or Bihar. But after their numbers dropped to 240, they started paying attention to these two States,” Ms. Sule said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and MLA Aaditya Thackeray said the Union government through its Budget seemed to indicate that the BJP does not like Maharashtra. He questioned why the State, despite being the largest taxpayer, received less allocation in the Budget. “I can understand the BJP wanting to save its [NDA] government and giving Bihar and Andhra Pradesh a huge sum of the budget. But what is Maharashtra’s fault? That we are the largest taxpayer? What did we get against what we contributed? Was Maharashtra mentioned even once in the budget? Why does the BJP hate and insult Maharashtra so much? This isn’t the first time, through the entire past decade of BJP’s government, we have seen this bias against Maharashtra,” he posted on X.

State Congress chief Nana Patole blamed the three constituents of the Mahayuti government — the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP — for Maharashtra not receiving any major allocation and said the trio of Mr. Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar isn’t trusted any more by the Centre. He also pointed out that the stock markets had tanked during the presentation of the Budget. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex fell by over 1,000 points, slipping below the 80,000-mark. It recovered prior to closing hours, but remained in the red.

“The fact that the stock market also collapsed shows that it was a disappointing Budget for various sectors. Yet the Chief Minister is showering praises on the Prime Minister and Finance Minister. It only goes on to show that he is more concerned about his position in Maharashtra and desperate for power,” Mr. Patole said.

Fadnavis’s riposte

Refuting the claims made by Maha Vikas Aghadi, Mr. Fadnavis said Maharashtra had secured schemes, projects and funds worth at least ₹8,045 crore. He then went on to list some of the proposed allocations for the State — ₹600 crore for irrigation projects in Vidarbha and Marathwada, ₹400 crore for Maharashtra Rural Road Improvement, ₹466 crore for economic corridors for inclusive development, ₹598 crore for environment-friendly, sustainable agriculture projects, ₹150 crore for Maharashtra agriculture and rural transformation project, ₹908 crore for Mumbai Urban Transport Project-3, ₹1,087 crore for Mumbai Metro, ₹499 crore for Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, ₹150 crore for Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s green urban mobility, ₹500 crore for Nagpur Metro, ₹814 crore for Pune Metro, ₹500 crore for Nag river pollution abatement, and ₹690 crore for Mula Mutha river conservation.