Husband, wife claiming same benefit? Govt flags 29.13 lakh PM-Kisan cases

According to sources, the ministry identified 29.13 lakh suspected cases of the husband and wife both receiving PM-Kisan instalments. Of these, verification of 19.4 lakh beneficiaries has been completed, out of which 18.23 lakh (94 per cent) have been confirmed as husband and wife and have been declared as “ineligible” beneficiaries till October 13, 2025, said a source.

Of the 29.13 lakh suspected cases (where both husband and wife availed of the PM-Kisan benefits), Uttar Pradesh accounted for the most (9.9 lakh) and followed by Rajasthan (3.75 lakh) and Jharkhand (3.04 lakh).

The PM-Kisan, is aimed at supplementing the financial needs of all landholding farmers’ families. Under the scheme, the Union government releases Rs 6,000 each year in three equal instalments into the bank accounts of the eligible farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer, subject to certain exclusions.

The operational guidelines define a landholder farmer’s family as a family comprising “husband, wife and minor children” who owns cultivable land as per land records of the concerned State/UT.

As per the PM-Kisan scheme’s operational guidelines, only one member (husband, wife and minor children) can avail of PM-Kisan, said the sources.

Sources said that for every person confirmed as ineligible from the suspected beneficiary list, the government would save Rs 6,000 a year.

The sources said that the ministry has identified 1.76 lakh cases where minors and other family members from the same household were receiving the benefits.

They said the Agriculture Ministry has sent letters to states, asking them to complete the verification exercise by October 15.

The ministry has also identified 33.34 lakh suspected cases where previous landowner’s details have been found “invalid or blank”. For registered farmers with land transfer after February 1, 2019, the previous landowner’s details must be provided during the registration, as per the PM-Kisan norms. The previous landowner should not receive the benefits of the scheme, said the sources. However, 8.11 lakh of suspected cases of both previous and current land owners receiving the PM-Kisan benefits have been identified, said the sources.

Sources said that mutation only through inheritance is allowed under the PM-Kisan, however, during the scrutiny, 8.83 lakh cases were found, in which reason of mutation was recorded other than inheritance.

In recent years, the Centre has taken multiple measures to ensure that the scheme’s benefits reach its intended beneficiaries. For instance, the Centre made the Farmer ID mandatory for enrollment of new PM-Kisan beneficiaries from January 1.

The government has allocated Rs 63,500 crore for PM-Kisan in the Union budget 2025-26.

The PM-Kisan scheme was launched on February 24, 2019, just before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The PM-Kisan is a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from the Centre. The fund is directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the 20th installment of the PM-KISAN scheme from Varanasi on August 2, 2025. In the 20th round of the installment, the PM-Kisan amount was transferred to over 9.7 crore farmers across the country.

Recently, a Parliamentary panel had recommended doubling the yearly payouts under the PM-Kisan to Rs 12,000 per annum from the present Rs 6,000.