The Union Cabinet has relaxed a condition that requires small and marginal farmers to seed their Aadhaar numbers with their bank accounts for getting the second instalment of payments under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme.
While clearing the scheme on February 1, the government had made it mandatory for farmers with less than 2 hectares of land to get Aadhaar seeding done for the second instalment of the scheme, which is to be disbursed after April 1.
The cabinet, which met on Thursday, however, waived off this condition as it felt that 100 per cent Aadhaar seeding would not be possible in such a short notice.
The small and marginal farmers are to get three equal instalments of ₹2,000 each over a year to supplement the financial needs of the farmers in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields.
The PM-Kisan scheme was officially launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a function in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday by digitally transferring the first instalment of ₹2,000 to the bank accounts of over 1 crore farmers.
According to Vivek Agrawal, Chief Executive Officer of PM-Kisan, an additional 1 crore farmers would get the benefit by Friday.