Narendra Singh Tomar launches PM Kisan Mobile App with Face Authentication Feature

The PM-Kisan Mobile App with Face Authentication Feature was launched by Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar under the central government’s ambitious and popular scheme for income support to farmers “Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi”. Best example of modern technology using Face Authentication Feature from this app farmer can complete e-KYC remotely, sitting at home easily by scanning face without OTP or fingerprint and helped 100 other farmers to do e-KYC at their home. Recognizing the need to make e-KYC mandatory, the Government of India has extended the ability of farmers to perform e-KYC to officers of state governments, so that each officer can complete the e-KYC process for 500 farmers.

Thousands of farmers present in Krishi Vigyan Kendras across the country, as well as officers of the Central and State Governments and representatives of various government agencies and agricultural organizations were virtually connected to the event held at Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi. On this occasion, Union Minister Shri Tomar said that Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi is a very comprehensive and ambitious scheme of the Government of India, in the implementation of which the state governments have performed their role very diligently, as a result of which we are in a position to pay the installment of the scheme about 8.5 crore farmers after KYC. The more refined this platform the more it will be useful for PM-Kisan and whenever any benefit has to be given to the farmers, complete data will be available with the Central and State Governments, so that no problem can arise in data verification.

Shri Tomar stated that PM-Kisan is an innovative scheme whose benefits are being given by the central government to the farmers without any middlemen. Today, it has become possible to give benefits to such a large number of farmers only with the help of technology. No one can question the implementation of this entire scheme which is a very important achievement. The work has become much easier by using technology the GoI developed this App. The Government of India has made all the necessary facilities available to the states, now if the states work more quickly, then we will reach to all the beneficiaries and achieve the set target.

Union Minister Shri Tomar said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been continuously insisting that if sufficient funds are available for the scheme, then we have reached saturation. Work is going on in this direction in other states including Uttar Pradesh and on completion of which, maximum number of eligible farmers will be able to get the 14^th installment of the scheme. Shri Tomar requested that all the state governments should act in this regard.

In the program, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Kailash Choudhary said that the agriculture sector is benefiting from technology and the new facility of this app will also provide a lot of convenience to the farmers. Union Agriculture Secretary Shri Manoj Ahuja also kept his views. Additional Secretary Shri Pramod Kumar Mehrada explained the features of the app. The program was coordinated by the departmental advisor Shri Manoj Kumar Gupta. On this occasion, officials of state governments also shared their experiences related to the benefits of scheme and app. Efforts will also be made to connect more and more farmers with the app through the youth and on the basis of the prescribed criteria, certificates will be given by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare to the youth who help in this.

PM Kisan is one of the world’s largest DBT schemes in which farmers get Rs 6,000 directly transferred through Aadhaar  linked bank accounts in three installments in a year. 2.42 lakh crore has been transferred to the accounts of more than 11 crore farmers, of whom more than 3 crore were women. PM Kisan Yojana proved to be a strong partner for the farmers even during the lockdown at the time of covid. The scheme has ensured necessary facilities by providing direct financial assistance to the farmers and has given them confidence in difficult times. Now the difficulties related to Aadhaar verification and bank account details updation on PM Kisan Portal have been resolved by effective use of digital public goods.

For the first time, it is seen that more than 8.1 crore farmers were successfully paid the 13^th installment of PM Kisan directly into their Aadhaar linked bank accounts through Aadhaar Enabled Payment only, which is a record in itself. The new app is very easy to use and easily available for download on the Google Play Store. The app will also provide very important information related to the scheme and PM Kisan accounts to the farmers. In this, farmers can know the status of landseeding, linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts and e-KYC using the No User Status Module. The department has also roped in India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) to open Aadhaar linked bank accounts for beneficiaries at their doorstep and asked CSCs to organize village-level e-KYC camps with the help of States/UTs.