NEW DELHI: Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh were awarded for being the best performing states in implementing the central income support scheme, PM-Kisan, in three different categories on the occasion of the second anniversary of this flagship scheme on Wednesday.
While UP was awarded for fastest implementation of the scheme, Karnataka topped the list in covering the highest percentage of beneficiaries whereas Maharashtra was the best in physical verification and grievance redress.
Karnataka has verified the highest 97% Aadhaar-authenticated data. More than 90% beneficiaries in the state have been paid one or more instalments via Aadhaar-based payment mode under the scheme which was launched on February 24, 2019.
Under the scheme, each landholder farmer family gets Rs 6,000 per annum. The central government transfers money directly into their verified bank accounts in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000. Over 10.75 crore farmers from across the country have received over Rs 1.15 lakh crore in the past two years.
In the district category, Punjab’s Rupnagar, Haryana’s Kurukshetra and Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur were awarded as best performing districts for coming out with authenticated data, leading to quick payments to eligible farmers.
Speaking about sufficient budgetary allocation under the scheme, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar urged state governments to run campaigns for registration of beneficiaries so that not a single needy farmer was deprived of the benefits of this scheme.
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