Patiala, March 18 -- The number of beneficiaries under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi has declined by 51% in Punjab over the past six years, the Centre told Lok Sabha on Tuesday. From 23.01 lakh beneficiaries in 2019, when the scheme started, the number dropped to 11.34 lakh in 2025, reflecting a decrease of nearly 11.67 lakh farmers, Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers' welfare, Bhagirath Choudhary, said in a written reply to a question raised by MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Under the PM-Kisan scheme, financial assistance of Rs.6,000 per year is provided to eligible farmers in three equal instalments of Rs.2,000 each. The amount is directly transferred to Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system. Responding to the queries regarding the decline in the number of beneficiaries and reasons, the minister said that several mandatory requirements had been introduced to ensure that benefits reach only eligible farmers. "It is the responsibility of the state governments to ensure the completion of these mandatory requirements for all eligible beneficiaries. Benefits under the scheme are provided based on data uploaded by states/UTs on the PM-Kisan portal. In Punjab, 23.01 lakh farmers received the fourth instalment (December 2019-March 2020), while 11.34 lakh farmers received the 20th instalment (April-July 2025), as per the number of beneficiaries verified and approved by the state prior to the release of instalments," the minister said. The minister further said that around 1.46 lakh farmers were yet to complete land seeding, while 1.34 lakh had not completed e-KYC. Additionally, 46,106 farmers had not linked their Aadhaar with their bank accounts. Punjab agriculture department director GS Brar denied any delay on the part of the state. "There has been no delay in updating the mandatory requirements under the PM-Kisan scheme. We have been organising camps at the village level to facilitate data uploading. Recently, we have also allowed Common Service Centres to upload farmers' data. Farmers can also visit their nearest cooperative societies to complete their e-KYC," he said....