PM-Kisan 24th Instalment Not Received: Why ₹2,000 Gets Stuck, How to Fix It

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the 24th instalment of PM-Kisan on Friday, 30 October, from Bhildi in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district: ₹18,680 crore, or ₹2,000 each, to about 9.34 crore farmer families. In June, the 23rd instalment went to 9.44 crore families. So roughly 10 lakh families who were paid four months ago are not on this round’s list, and many more are checking their phones for an SMS that has not come. In most cases the money is not lost. It is held because a record does not match.

About 10 Lakh Fewer Families Than in June

The 23rd instalment, released from Tarakeswar in West Bengal on 20 June, paid ₹18,880 crore to 9.44 crore beneficiaries, including more than 2.18 crore women farmers, Goodreturns reported. This round’s figure of 9.34 crore, given by Gujarat Agriculture Minister Jitu Vaghani and reported by PTI, is lower by about 10 lakh. The government has not said how many of those were removed as ineligible and how many are held for paperwork.

The list has shrunk before. In February 2023, 8.53 crore farmers got the 13th instalment, 2.73 crore fewer than in the 11th round of May 2022, by The Tribune’s count of government data. Government sources said then that deceased and ineligible beneficiaries were being weeded out; experts pointed to e-KYC and land-record checks.

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The Three Records That Hold Up Payments

e-KYC. It is mandatory. It can be done with an Aadhaar OTP on pmkisan.gov.in, by fingerprint at a Common Service Centre, or by face authentication on the PM-Kisan mobile app. If it is pending, the instalment is held.

Land seeding. The state has to verify that the farmer’s land record matches the registration. Until the land is marked as seeded, payment stops, even if e-KYC is complete.

Aadhaar-linked bank account. The money goes by direct benefit transfer to an account linked to Aadhaar and enabled for DBT. A closed account, a changed bank, a spelling mismatch between Aadhaar and the bank, or an unlinked account will bounce the payment.

Completing one of the three is not enough, Business Standard noted: all of them have to match.

Who Is Not Eligible at All

Only landholding farmer families qualify. Institutional landholders are out, as are families with a member who holds or has held a constitutional post (minister, MP, MLA, mayor, zila panchayat chairperson), serving or retired government employees with a few exceptions, pensioners drawing ₹10,000 or more a month, income-tax payers, and registered professionals such as doctors, engineers, lawyers, chartered accountants and architects. Farmers who fall in these groups are removed during verification and do not get arrears.

How to Check and Fix It

Open pmkisan.gov.in, go to “Know Your Status” under Farmers Corner, and enter your registration number. If you have lost it, the page can retrieve it with your Aadhaar or mobile number. The status page lists each instalment and shows which check is pending.

For e-KYC, use the OTP option or visit a Common Service Centre. For land seeding, contact the block or district agriculture office. For the bank, ask your branch to link Aadhaar and enable the account for DBT. The PM-Kisan helpline is 155261, with a toll-free line at 1800-115-526, and the email is [email protected].

Will the Missed ₹2,000 Come Later?

In earlier rounds, officials have said the held amount is paid with the next instalment once the records are fixed. After the 15th instalment in November 2023, Ambala’s deputy director of agriculture, Dr Jasvinder Singh, said 10,531 farmers in the district had missed it, 6,750 of them over e-KYC, and that they would get it with the next instalment once e-KYC, land verification and Aadhaar seeding were complete, The Tribune reported. The Centre has not published a deadline for this round. IPB’s report on the release has the day’s figures.

Source: PM-Kisan portal and PTI, as reported by Business Standard. Also based on reporting by Goodreturns, The Free Press Journal and The Tribune.

Image: Wikimedia Commons (file photo).