Farmers loading sugarcanes on trucks. Representative purpose only. (File Photo | EPS)
ONGOLE: Around one lakh farmers in Prakasam district are unlikely to receive financial assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM Kisan) scheme this time as they have not completed their eKYC (Electronic Know Your Customer) process, officials of the agriculture department said.
There are nearly 3.18 lakh farmers in the district. While all of them have reportedly completed the Aadhaar authentication process (registration) for the scheme, only around 2.20 lakh have completed their eKYC process as well.
“The registered farmers will receive Rs 6,000 financial assistance in three equal instalments,” officials said. Stating that the Union government has extended the date to complete eKYC process four times, the agriculture department officials said only 68 per cent of the farmers have completed the process by September 15.
Earlier, the Central government had announced July 31 as the deadline, but based on the request of the State government and farmers’ associations, the last date to complete eKYC process was moved three times and finalised to September 18 (Sunday). “As of now, we have no information on whether the deadline for completing eKYC will be extended further,” Agriculture Joint Director (JD-A) A Srinivasa Rao said.
It has also been reported that among the one lakh farmers in the district who will lose the aid, around 35,000 farmers may be ineligible as they might be Income Tax assessees or have more than one beneficiary in their family or might not have provided original documents. The remaining 65,000 farmers are eligible, but their whereabouts are not known.
They reportedly have not been residing at their registered residential addresses and their mobile phone numbers are unreachable. Among the 38 mandals in the district, around 80 per cent farmers in Ongole have completed the eKYC process, the highest in the district.
