ONGOLE: The district agriculture department officials are currently engaged in completing the field-level verification survey of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM Kisan) beneficiaries, following orders from the Central government.
As of Tuesday, the Prakasam district authorities had completed around 72% of the field-level PM Kisan survey, leaving approximately 5,687 beneficiaries to be cross-checked.
This annual routine practice aims to cross-check beneficiaries to ensure that all eligible farmers receive the support without fail.
Additionally, it has been reported that the Union government received complaints regarding the inclusion of ineligible persons in the PM Kisan beneficiary list, who are allegedly receiving monetary support illegally.
To address these allegations and correct any errors, the government has instructed district agriculture department authorities to conduct a sample survey (5%) to verify the eligibility of some listed beneficiaries.
A resident of Tripuranthakam mandal, P Subba Reddy said, “For two days, the officials have been coming to us to verify our details. However, due to internet connectivity issues and mismatched photos taken through the mobile phone apps, our details are not being authorised in the portal. The government should adopt alternative methods of beneficiary identification, such as OTP (One Time Password) to mobile phones, face index, iris recognition and biometrics, to make the process easier for us.”
Speaking to TNIE, Joint Director-Agriculture (JD-A) said, “We have received orders to verify the eligibility of PM Kisan beneficiaries through the face recognition app and upload the details. However, many beneficiaries’ photos do not match their Aadhaar photos, and there are technical mismatches in their details."
"Some beneficiaries are not at the addresses provided earlier, and internet connectivity issues further complicate the process for our staff. Nevertheless, we have completed 72% of the checking process so far and aim to complete the remaining as soon as possible. We have a total of 2.42 lakh beneficiaries across the district and need to complete the verification for the remaining 5,687 beneficiaries.”
According to official information, the Central government has ordered a field-level survey of 3,53,734 selected beneficiaries across all 26 districts of the State.
In this, Prakasam district has 20,285 (5%) beneficiaries, Anantapur has 23,720, Satya Sai district has 21,000, and Kurnool has 20,053 beneficiaries.