The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is a Central Sector Scheme of the Government of India, launched to provide income support to landholding farmer families. The scheme was announced by Piyush Goyal during the 2019 Interim Union Budget on 1 February 2019, though it came into effect retrospectively from December 2018. Its origin is linked to the successful Rythu Bandhu scheme implemented by the Government of Telangana. The primary objective is to augment the income of small and marginal farmers and supplement their financial needs for procuring agricultural inputs and meeting domestic expenses.
The scheme works by providing an annual financial benefit of ₹6,000. This amount is transferred in three equal ₹2,000 installments every four months directly into the beneficiaries' Aadhaar Seeded bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode. The implementing agency is the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. For the purpose of the scheme, a farmer "family" consists of the husband, wife, and any minor children.
A significant change occurred when the initial eligibility restriction of landholding up to 2 hectares was abolished, expanding the scheme's scope to all landholding farmer families, subject to certain exclusion criteria for higher economic status. More recently, e-KYC has been made mandatory, and a Face Authentication Feature was introduced in the mobile app in 2023 to enhance transparency and verification. The scheme is closely connected to the concept of DBT and other farmer welfare initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Kisan MaanDhan Yojana (PM-KMY). Ongoing verification drives have led to the removal of ineligible beneficiaries to ensure the funds reach genuine farmers.