Centre extends PM-Kisan for four more years, allocates ₹3.15 lakh crore
The Union Cabinet approved continuation of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme for a further five years, from 2026-27 to 2030-31, with a financial outlay of ₹3.15 lakh crore (₹3,15,614 crore)
Since its 2019 launch, more than ₹4.47 lakh crore has been transferred directly into farmers' bank accounts across 23 instalments
Under the most recent (23rd) instalment, over 9.49 crore farmers received more than ₹18,984 crore
An evaluation by NITI Aayog's Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) found over 92% of beneficiaries used the assistance for agricultural activities and investments, and about 85% reported improved farm income
PM-KISAN — Design as a Central Sector Scheme
PM-KISAN was launched in February 2019 as a Central Sector Scheme (100% Centre-funded, as opposed to a Centrally Sponsored Scheme where states share costs) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. It provides income support of ₹6,000 per year to eligible farmer families, paid in three equal instalments of ₹2,000 every four months directly into Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
Key Details
- Central Sector Scheme (CSS) — fully funded by the Union government, distinct from Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS-sharing pattern) like most rural welfare programmes
- Eligibility is based on cultivable land ownership, irrespective of holding size, subject to exclusion categories
- Excluded: institutional landholders, constitutional post-holders (present/former), income-tax payers, government employees/pensioners (above ₹10,000/month pension) except Class IV/MTS staff, and registered professionals (doctors, engineers, lawyers, CAs, architects)
- Payments routed through DBT using the PFMS (Public Financial Management System) architecture
The extension keeps the CSS classification and DBT delivery mechanism unchanged while committing budgetary support through FY 2030-31, making PM-KISAN one of the largest continuing income-support transfers globally.
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Framework
DBT is the government's mechanism for transferring welfare benefits directly into beneficiaries' bank accounts using the JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity, aimed at eliminating leakages and duplicate/ghost beneficiaries that plagued earlier subsidy delivery.
Key Details
- DBT architecture rests on Jan Dhan bank accounts, Aadhaar authentication, and mobile-linked verification
- Administered via the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) for real-time fund tracking
- PM-KISAN is among the largest DBT schemes by beneficiary count, alongside LPG (PAHAL) and MGNREGA wage payments
The cumulative ₹4.47 lakh crore disbursed under PM-KISAN illustrates DBT's scale in eliminating intermediaries in farm income support, a template referenced for other welfare scheme reforms.
Farmer Income Support vs. Price Support Mechanisms
PM-KISAN is a direct income-support instrument, which UPSC syllabus distinguishes from price-support mechanisms such as Minimum Support Price (MSP, recommended by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) and insurance-based support like the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY, 2016).
Key Details
- Income support (PM-KISAN) is decoupled from production or price, unlike MSP which is crop- and market-linked
- Complements PMFBY (crop insurance) and Kisan Credit Card (KCC, institutional credit) as the three pillars of the government's farmer-support architecture
- The DMEO/NITI Aayog evaluation cited in the news is a standard monitoring mechanism used to assess Central Sector Schemes for continuation approval
The five-year extension and continuity of the ₹6,000/year benefit (unchanged since 2019) is being justified using this DMEO evaluation on income and investment impact, a pattern relevant for Mains answers on the effectiveness of DBT-based welfare delivery.
- PM-KISAN launched: February 2019
- Extension approved: 2026-27 to 2030-31 (5 years), outlay ₹3,15,614 crore
- Annual benefit per eligible farmer family: ₹6,000, in three instalments of ₹2,000
- Cumulative disbursement since launch: over ₹4.47 lakh crore across 23 instalments
- 23rd instalment: over 9.49 crore farmers, over ₹18,984 crore disbursed
- Women farmers have received more than ₹1.06 lakh crore under the scheme, with nearly one in four beneficiaries being a woman farmer [Unverified — proportion figure from secondary reporting, cross-check against official PIB release]