PM-KISAN Direct Benefit Transfer Reaches 12 Crore Farmers
March 2024
The PM-KISAN scheme exemplifies commitment to public welfare through direct cash transfers to small and marginal farmers, bypassing intermediaries and reducing corruption. The scheme's success demonstrates how technology can be leveraged to ensure that welfare benefits reach intended beneficiaries efficiently and transparently. However, it also highlights challenges in identifying genuine beneficiaries and addressing exclusion errors that can deny benefits to deserving farmers. Civil servants implementing this scheme must balance the need for verification with the urgency of providing support to vulnerable farmers, especially during agricultural crises.
UPSC Angle: UPSC may ask about the ethical dimensions of direct benefit transfers, challenges in implementation, measures to prevent exclusion errors, and the role of civil servants in ensuring that technology-enabled welfare delivery maintains human sensitivity and addresses ground-level realities.