In a notable shift, over 1.16 lakh farmers across India have voluntarily given up their benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme between June 2023 and May 2024, according to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
Bihar leads the way, with 29,176 farmers’ families surrendering their PM-Kisan benefits. Following Bihar are Uttar Pradesh, with 26,593 farmers and Rajasthan with 10,343 farmers. The Agriculture Ministry introduced a module on the PM-Kisan mobile app and website last year, allowing farmers to voluntarily exit the scheme.
Several factors may explain why some farmers have chosen to give up these benefits. Absentee landlords, who are not actively engaged in farming, may have decided not to avail of the subsidy. Additionally, land that has passed to tax-paying descendants who are not eligible for the scheme and changes in the status of landowners could also be reasons.
To surrender their benefits, farmers need to enter their registration number on the PM-Kisan portal and generate an OTP sent to their Aadhar-registered mobile number. This process identifies the beneficiary and allows them to voluntarily exit the scheme.
As of now, 16 installments of PM-Kisan benefits have been distributed, with the 16th installment reaching 9.09 crore farmers on February 29, 2024. Uttar Pradesh received the highest number of beneficiaries, followed by Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan. The 17th installment is due to be released soon.