Vijayawada:Telugu Desam floor leader and Narasaraopet MP Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu has informed the Lok Sabha that more than 62,000 farmers in Andhra Pradesh are not receiving benefits from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM Kisan) scheme.
He said that although 41 lakh 84 thousand farmers are eligible for this scheme, currently only 41 lakh 22 thousand are benefiting.
Devarayalu attributed this discrepancy to the lack of update in Kisan Nidhi policy in the last five years.
He said that the eligibility criteria had not been revised since the beginning of the scheme. Only farmers whose land was registered between December 2018 and April 2019 are allowed to be beneficiaries.
However, many farmers have since transferred their land to their children through gifts or sales, and this has stopped aid.
During the session, the MP pressed the central government for an answer as to when the data will be updated and when the remaining eligible farmers can expect to get the benefits.
In response, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan acknowledged the concerns. Chauhan said that there is a plan to benefit one crore more farmers through Pradhan Mantri Kisan Yojana.
Updates will be made as soon as relevant information is received from the state governments, the Union Minister said.