Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched PM Kisan mobile app with face authentication feature

Tags: Government Schemes

On 22 June 2023, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched the PM Kisan mobile app with a face authentication feature for e-KYC.

An Overview of the News

• The app allows remote farmers to complete the KYC process by scanning their face, without the need for OTP or fingerprint verification.

• The scheme is comprehensive and ambitious and the central government in collaboration with the states can provide installments to around 8.5 crore farmers after completing their KYC.

• PM Kisan Yojana is one of the largest DBT schemes in the world, which provides direct transfer of six thousand rupees per year to farmers in three installments.

• So far, more than 11 crore farmers have received a total transfer of Rs 2.42 lakh crore through PM Kisan Yojana.

PM Kisan Scheme:

• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN) is an initiative of the Government of India.

• The objective of this scheme is to provide minimum income support to the farmers.

• Farmers can receive up to ₹6,000 (US$75) per year through this program.

• The announcement about PM KISAN was made on 1 February 2019 by Piyush Goyal during the Interim Union Budget 2019 of India.

• The primary objective of PM KISAN is to reduce the financial burden faced by the farmers and support their livelihood.

What is e-KYC?

• It is the digital verification of the identity of individuals or entities.

• It uses the internet or digital platform for identity verification.

• Verification of ID and address proof documents is done using special systems.

• The information provided is cross-checked with government databases such as the passport database.

• E-KYC simplifies the verification process, thereby saving time and cost.

• This improves accuracy and reliability, reducing the risk of fraud and money laundering.