Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)

What is PM-KISAN?

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is a Central Sector scheme funded entirely by the Government of India and run by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. It became operational on 1 December 2018 and provides income support to land-holding farmer families across the country.

According to the PM-KISAN portal, the scheme transfers Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each, paid directly into the beneficiary's bank account through Direct Benefit Transfer. There is no intermediary and no state-level top-up requirement, the entire amount comes from the central government.

Key objectives

• Supplement the financial needs of farmer families for buying seeds, fertiliser, pesticides and other inputs.
• Reduce dependence on informal moneylenders at the start of a cropping season.
• Deliver support directly to the beneficiary's account, removing leakage.

Main features

• Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from the Government of India.
• Benefit is paid per family, defined as husband, wife and minor children.
• Payment is made through DBT, so an Aadhaar-seeded bank account is essential.
• Beneficiary identification is done by state and union territory governments.

Who is eligible for PM-KISAN?

You can apply if:

• You are an Indian citizen.
• Your family owns cultivable land recorded in your name.
• Your family; husband, wife and minor children, has not already claimed the benefit through another member.
• You have completed Aadhaar-based e-KYC.

You cannot apply if you fall into any of these exclusion categories:

• Institutional landholders; land held by a trust, society or institution rather than a farming family.
• Constitutional post holders, former and present, including ministers, MPs, MLAs, mayors and district panchayat chairpersons.
• Serving or retired government employees of central or state governments, PSUs and autonomous bodies. Group D and Class IV staff are exempt from this exclusion and remain eligible.
• Pensioners drawing a monthly pension of Rs 10,000 or more, again excluding Group D and Class IV retirees.
• Income tax payers in the last assessment year.
• Practising professionals, doctors, engineers, lawyers, chartered accountants and architects registered with their professional bodies, along with their families.

Two situations trigger suspension rather than outright rejection: land acquired after 1 February 2019, and duplicate benefits claimed within the same family. Both are held pending verification.

What documents are required for PM-KISAN?

How to apply for PM-KISAN online

1. Go to the official portal at pmkisan.gov.in.
2. Under the Farmers Corner section, select New Farmer Registration.
3. Choose whether you are a rural or urban farmer, then enter your Aadhaar number, mobile number and state, and complete the captcha.
4. Enter the OTP sent to your Aadhaar-linked mobile number to verify your identity.
5. Fill in the registration form with your personal details, bank account details and land records, survey or khasra number, and area of holding.
6. Upload the supporting documents, then submit the form and save the registration number shown on screen.
7. Complete e-KYC from the Farmers Corner menu. Use OTP if your mobile is Aadhaar-linked, or face authentication through the PM-KISAN mobile app.
8. Track approval using Know Your Status, entering your registration number.

How to apply for PM-KISAN offline

1. Visit your nearest Common Service Centre (CSC) with your Aadhaar card, land records and bank passbook.
2. Ask the Village Level Entrepreneur to register you under PM-KISAN.
3. Complete biometric e-KYC at the centre. This is the route to use if your mobile number is not linked to Aadhaar.
4. Collect the acknowledgement carrying your registration number.

You can also approach your local patwari, revenue officer or the nodal officer appointed by your state government for PM-KISAN registration.

How much benefit does PM-KISAN provide?

The scheme pays Rs 6,000 per financial year, split into three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each. Instalments are released roughly every four months and credited directly to the Aadhaar-seeded bank account of the beneficiary. The 23rd instalment was released on 20 June 2026.

The benefit is paid once per family. If both a husband and wife are registered separately, the duplicate claim is flagged and payment is suspended.

Instalments run on a roughly three-cycle calendar, April to July, August to November, and December to March. PM-KISAN does not require any yearly re-application: once a beneficiary is approved and their e-KYC, land seeding and Aadhaar-bank seeding all show complete, each instalment is released automatically in the appropriate cycle. Since December 2018 the scheme has run without interruption, and the 23rd instalment was released on 20 June 2026. A farmer whose neighbours received a cycle they missed should first open Know Your Status to see which of the three verification flags is pending, rather than assume the instalment was skipped for everyone.

How to check your PM-KISAN status

1. Open pmkisan.gov.in or the PM-KISAN mobile app.
2. Select Know Your Status from the Farmers Corner menu.
3. Enter your registration number and the captcha, then submit.
4. If you do not know your registration number, use Know Your Registration Number and retrieve it with your Aadhaar-linked mobile number.

The status screen shows whether your e-KYC, land seeding and Aadhaar-bank seeding are complete. Any one of these showing "No" will stop your instalment.

Why PM-KISAN instalments get stopped

• e-KYC not completed — the single most common reason.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so DBT cannot reach it.
• Name mismatch between Aadhaar and bank records.
• Land record not verified by the state revenue department.
• Exclusion criteria triggered, for example an income tax return filed in the last assessment year.
• Duplicate claim by another member of the same family.

Corrections to your Aadhaar-linked name can be made through the Farmers Corner "Updation of Self Registered Farmer" option. Land record and eligibility disputes must be raised with your state's nodal officer or district agriculture office.

How to complete PM-KISAN e-KYC

e-KYC is the single step that stops the most instalments, so it is worth understanding the three routes the Ministry of Agriculture allows:

1. OTP-based e-KYC on pmkisan.gov.in; open the e-KYC link in Farmers Corner, enter your Aadhaar number, and type the OTP sent to your Aadhaar-linked mobile number. This is free and takes a minute, but it only works if your mobile number is linked to Aadhaar.
2. Face-authentication e-KYC through the PM-KISAN mobile app, download the official app, sign in, and scan your own face. This route is designed for farmers whose mobile number is not linked to Aadhaar, and it needs no OTP.
3. Biometric e-KYC at a Common Service Centre, visit a CSC with your Aadhaar card and give a fingerprint scan. A small government-notified fee may apply.

Land seeding. The linking of your verified land record to your PM-KISAN account: is done by the state revenue department, not by you. If Know Your Status shows land seeding as "No" for a long period, follow up with your patwari or the district agriculture office rather than repeating your e-KYC.

Physical verification and recovery of wrong payments

State governments conduct sample physical verification of at least a share of beneficiaries every year to confirm that the land and family details on record are genuine. Where a person is found to have drawn instalments despite falling in an exclusion category, for example an income-tax payer or a government employee. The amount is treated as an ineligible payment and is recovered. Voluntary surrender of the benefit is possible through the Farmers Corner, and paying back wrongly received money early avoids recovery proceedings later.

Help and grievance redressal

• PM-KISAN helpline: 155261 or 011-24300606
• Kisan e-Mitra chatbot on the portal answers common queries
• Helpdesk query form on pmkisan.gov.in for written grievances

PM-KISAN registration is free. No agent or middleman can charge you a fee to add your name to the beneficiary list, and no government official will ask for your OTP.