PM Kisan Scheme: Small and marginal farmers will be able to get the second instalment of PM Kisan scheme without compulsorily seeding Aadhaar with bank accounts, the government said in a statement on Thursday. However, they will need the Aadhaar number for receiving the instalment, it added. The second instalment of Rs 2,000 is due on April 1. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KiSAN) scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 24. At an event in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, the Prime Minister had then transferred the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to 1.01 crore farmers. 

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The government's official statement on Thursday said, "Non-seeding of beneficiaries' details with Aadhaar number will delay the release of 2nd instalment as it is due on 1st April 2019 and will cause discontent among the farmers. Therefore, this condition has been relaxed." 

"The condition will remain applicable for release of third instalment onwards," the statement said further. The PM Kisan scheme was approved by the Union Cabinet led by PM Modi on February 1. The government had then said that seeding of beneficiaries' Aadhaar with their respective bank accounts was compulsory for the release of the 2nd instalment onwards. 

"However, it would be difficult to get 100 per cent Aadhaar seeding for the release of funds for 2nd instalment, as efficient seeding of beneficiaries' details with Aadhaar requires biometric authentication. Demographic seeding will result in large scale rejection as the spellings of names have to be exactly the same," the official statement said.

Under PM Kisan scheme, the government will provide Rs 6,000 per year to 12 crore small and marginal farmer families in three instalments. The scheme is fully funded by the central government.

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The PM Kisan scheme beneficiary can be only small and marginal landholder family collectively owning cultivable land up to two hectares as per the land records of the concerned states.