India, Aug. 2 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday released the 20th installment of the PM-Kisan scheme from Banauli in Varanasi during his visit to the city. Around Rs.20,500 crore was transferred directly to the bank accounts of 9.7 crore eligible farmers.

The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) is a scheme fully funded by the Centre. It gives Rs.6,000 a year to eligible farmers, paid in three installments of Rs.2,000 every four months. The money is transferred directly to the farmer's bank account.

In July, the Agriculture Ministry issued an advisory asking farmers to ignore fake messages and misleading claims on social media related to the scheme.

To get benefits under the scheme, eKYC is compulsory. OTP-based eKYC ...