ASSESSMENT OF CONSTRAINTS IN AVAILING PM-KISAN BENEFITS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BIHAR AND JHARKHAND

The current paper has explored the barriers experienced by beneficiary and non-beneficiary farmers in accessing PM-KISAN benefits in the state of Bihar and Jharkhand, which are states with the highest and the least number of beneficiaries, respectively in the eastern region. A multistage sampling method was observed where two districts were taken, two blocks within each district and two villages within each block in both the states. Out of every village, 20 beneficiary farmers and 20 non-beneficiary farmers were picked, and the total sample of respondents was 320. The main data were gathered using a tested interview schedule and the types of constraints that were identified were ranked in order of their seriousness. Kendall Coefficient of Concordance was used to analyse the ranked data using Microsoft excel and IBM SPSS (Version 27). The results showed that the biggest challenges encountered by the beneficiary farmers were the delays in verification processes, the challenges of payment processing, the problems of e-KYC, and the lack of institutional support, which influenced the ability to receive the benefits in time. Non-beneficiary farmers were faced with significant barriers to enrolment that included absence of awareness, Aadhaar-bank connections, land records errors, digital illiteracy, and omission of tenant and sharecropper farmers. These were greater in Jharkhand and this indicated governance and registration-based restrictions in accessing scheme benefits.