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Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)
Claim
Accurate
Delivery
Delivered
The extension happened, and it happened quickly. The scheme launched in February 2019 for farmers with up to two hectares; the two-hectare cap was removed by Cabinet decision in May 2019, weeks after this manifesto, making all landholding farmer families eligible. The Ministry of Agriculture told Parliament on 4 August 2026 that ₹4.47 lakh crore has been disbursed through 23 instalments since inception, with 9.54 crore beneficiaries in the June 2026 instalment. What 'all the farmers in the country' does not include is landless cultivators and tenant farmers, who are outside the scheme by design because eligibility rests on a land record — and they are a large share of India's farming households.
“Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana to all — We have launched Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana to ensure financial support to farmers owning land up to 2 hectares. We will further expand the coverage of the scheme to all the farmers in the country.”No CAG performance audit published
No CAG performance audit covering this scheme has been published. The absence of an audit is not evidence that the claim is either accurate or inaccurate.
No CAG performance audit of PM-KISAN has been tabled. The impact evaluation cited is by NITI Aayog's Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office, which is a government body.
No audit period to plot — no CAG performance audit covering this scheme has been published.
₹4.47 lakh crore disbursed through 23 instalments since inception
A nationwide saturation drive from 15 November 2023 under the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra added more than one crore farmers. NITI Aayog's evaluation reports that over 92 per cent of beneficiaries used the money on seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.
Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2633, Impact of PM-KISAN Scheme — answer by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
The 2019 manifesto's first item under "Welfare of Farmers" is an expansion promise: the scheme exists for farmers "owning land up to 2 hectares", and "We will further expand the coverage of the scheme to all the farmers in the country."
That expansion was carried out almost immediately. The two-hectare cap was removed by Cabinet decision at the end of May 2019, weeks after the manifesto was published, extending eligibility to all landholding farmer families subject to the scheme's exclusion criteria for income-tax payers, institutional landholders, serving and retired government employees above a pay threshold and professionals.
The scale since is documented. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare told the Lok Sabha on 4 August 2026: "Under the PM-KISAN Scheme, Government of India has disbursed over ₹4.47 lakh Cr. to the beneficiaries through 23 installments since inception of the Scheme." The June 2026 instalment reached 9.54 crore beneficiaries. Payment runs through Aadhaar-seeded accounts on direct benefit transfer, which is the part of the design that has drawn the least dispute.
Two things belong alongside those numbers.
The first is what "all the farmers" leaves out. Eligibility rests on a land record in the beneficiary's name. Tenant farmers, sharecroppers and landless agricultural labourers — a large share of the people who actually farm in India — cannot qualify, however small their means. This is not a failure of implementation; it is the scheme's design, and the manifesto's phrase promises something the design cannot deliver. The government's own answer describes the target group precisely as "farmers with cultivable land-holding".
The second is what the evidence of impact rests on. The ministry cites an evaluation by NITI Aayog's Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office finding that the scheme is "enhancing their economic stability and agricultural productivity" and that "over 92 percent of beneficiary farmers utilized the financial assistance for essential agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides". That is a government body evaluating a government scheme, and the underlying study is not published with the answer. No CAG performance audit of PM-KISAN has been tabled.
On the promise as written — expand the scheme from two-hectare farmers to all farmers in the country — the cap was removed within weeks and the money has flowed at scale ever since. Our verdict is accurate.
BJP Sankalp Patra 2019 — Lok Sabha election manifesto
“Through this Sankalp Patra, you would get a glimpse of the challenges of the yesteryears, the indomitable efforts made by 130 crore Indians to overcome those challenges and our collective vision for the future… There are two commitments that I am extremely passionate about — doubling of farmer income and housing for all, by the year 2022.”
Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2633, Impact of PM-KISAN Scheme — answer by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
“The PM-KISAN scheme is a central sector scheme launched to supplement the financial needs of farmers with cultivable land-holding. Under the scheme, a financial benefit of ₹6,000/- per year is transferred in three equal instalments, into the Aadhaar seeded bank accounts of farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode. Under the PM-KISAN Scheme, Government of India has disbursed over ₹4.47 lakh Cr. to the beneficiaries through 23 installments since inception of the Scheme. As per the impact evaluation study by the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) of NITI Aayog, the scheme is successfully fulfilling its primary function of providing direct financial assistance to farmers holding agricultural land, thereby enhancing their economic stability and agricultural productivity. The study also shows that over 92 percent of beneficiary farmers utilized the financial assistance for essential agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides… A major nationwide saturation drive was undertaken from 15th November 2023 under the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra (VBSY), during which, more than 1 Cr. farmers were included under PM-KISAN.”