The PM-KISAN scheme currently benefits around 10 crore farmers as per the available data. While there is no authentic data on the estimated number of farmers who may be eligible for benefits under the scheme, the data on operational holdings from the Agriculture Census 2015-16 does highlight gaps in coverage from twice the number in states like Punjab to less than 50% coverage in Kerala. The Government of India launched PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) to provide income support to the landholding farmers in the country. This is to supplement their financial needs to procure various inputs related to agriculture & allied activities along with domestic needs. The scheme is modelled after similar schemes in states like Telangana & Odisha. Under this scheme, the eligible beneficiaries would receive Rs. 6000 per year in three equal instalments. The first instalment was paid on 01 December 2018. Initially, the scheme was extended to only those farmer families who had a combined farm holding of two Hectares or less i.e. Small & Marginal farmers. However, since 01 June 2020, the scheme was revised to include all the farmers irrespective of the size of their holding. At the time of revision, the government estimated that the scheme would benefit 14.5 crore farmers in the country. However, the data indicates that the number of beneficiaries is less than this estimate. Number of beneficiaries for the recent instalment reduced by more than 57 lakhs Since the inception of PM-KISAN, the government has paid out 6 instilments to the beneficiaries. The payment of the current instalment i.e. 7 instalment started on 01 December 2020. The number of beneficiaries who received the assistance from the government varied largely over the 6 instalment periods. The change in eligibility criteria can be considered as one of the key factors which could have influenced the difference of the numbers. While it is a Central Sector Scheme, the responsibility to identifying and validating the beneficiaries is left to the respective states. As on date, all the States & UTs with the exception of West Bengal have joined this Central Sector Scheme. As per the information published on PM-KISAN portal, there were around 3.16 crore beneficiaries during the first instalment period i.e. during Dec’2018 – Mar’2019. The period of second instalment coincides with the government’s decision to change the eligibility criteria. As per government estimates, this would add another 2 crores more farmers to the scheme. By the time of announcement, 2.66 crores beneficiaries received the amount in the second instalment which by the end of period increased to 6.6 crore beneficiaries. In the next two instalments, the number of beneficiaries under PM-KISAN were 8.7 crores and 8.9 crores. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown, the government of India announced Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), to provide assistance to marginalized sections during the pandemic. As a part of this scheme, there was a frontal payment of the Rs. 2000, the instalment due to the beneficiaries under PM-KISAN. While the government estimated that 8.7 crore farmers could get benefitted (at the time of announcing PMGKY), data indicates that there were 10.4 crores beneficiaries during April-June’2020. This was also corroborated in response to an RTI application filed by Venkatesh Nayak of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI). An increasing trend has been observed in number of beneficiaries with every instalment period. However, contrary to this trend, for the period August -November’ 2020, the number of beneficiaries fell by about 57 lakhs compared to the previous instalment and fell to 9.8 crores. While the gradual increase over the last few instalments is understandable on account of new farmer addition & validation, the fall in beneficiaries to the tune of more than 57 lakhs raises important questions about the identification & validation of beneficiaries. Even after two years, coverage of PM-KISAN is about 75% of the estimated number After making changes to the eligibility criteria to extend the scheme to all farmers irrespective of the size of holding, the government estimated that there would be around 14.5 crore lakh beneficiaries. However, the greatest number of beneficiaries of the scheme so far has been 10.4 crores during the 5 instalment i.e. Apr-Jul 2020. The latest update on PM-KISAN portal shows the number of beneficiaries in upwards of 11 crores for the ongoing 7 instalment for period. This accounts to about 75% of the government’s estimate of 14.5 crore total farmers eligible for the scheme.