The Government of India identifies ineligible farmers who pay income tax and receive Rs. 6000 in annual financial assistance under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi using data analytics and AI. People aware of the development stated that they had been asked to return the sum received since December 2018, when the welfare scheme began. 

The scheme is intended for poor and marginal farmers and excludes cultivators paying income tax. Physical verifications and technology-driven exercises have been undertaken to eliminate ineligible beneficiaries from the loss. 

According to a statement, recovery notices that said income-tax payees are not eligible for the farmer’s scheme were issued to the ineligible farmers. As a result, the government has stopped the release of the next instalment to the person concerned. 

PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, fully funded by the central government, became operational on December 1st 2018. State governments are supposed to identify eligible households. The welfare provides income support of Rs.6000 per year in 3 equal instalments to the eligible families. Each instalment is transferred into the bank account of the beneficiaries. The recovery notices have been sent to cultivators who pay GST.  

Using AI, the government has completed verification of 6.45 million beneficiaries in 2021-22 and found that less than 5% of them were ineligible. According to a government official, even though the magnitude is not enormous, the government uses data from Aadhaar, income tax, mobile numbers, pension records etc., to eliminate ineligible people from the list of beneficiaries. Some people had joined the scheme because the initial eligibility of farmers was based on their self-declaration.