The Centre on Wednesday extended till March 2021 the relaxation given to Assam, Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh from the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeding of data of beneficiaries under the PM-KISAN scheme. The decision was taken in the meeting of the union cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, launched in February 2019, an amount of Rs 6,000 per annum is released in three equal installments directly into the bank accounts of 14.5 crore farmer beneficiaries across the country. From December 1, 2019 onwards, the Centre started releasing the amount to beneficiaries after the state governments uploaded the Aadhaar details on PM-KISAN portal. However, exemption was given to Assam, Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh till March 31, 2020 considering less penetration of Aadhaar. In a statement, the government said the Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Agriculture Ministry’s proposal after it assessed that states of Assam and Meghalaya and union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh would take much more time to complete the work of Aadhaar seeding of beneficiaries. “…and the beneficiaries of these states and UTs may not be able to avail the benefits of the scheme w.e.f. 1st April, 2020 onwards, if the relaxation from mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeding of data is not extended,” it said.
