With an eye on polls, the Centre is exploring the possibility of raising the assistance to farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme by Rs 2,000 to Rs 8,000 per annum.

The higher cash transfer — made in three or four instalments in a year — will increase the expenditure under the scheme by Rs 20,000 crore from Rs 60,000 crore allotted in the budget.

Farmers at present are provided financial assistance of Rs 6,000 annually under the scheme. Officials said they are discussing the issue and no decision has been taken yet.

Sources said the government would take the views of the Union law ministry before finalising the changes as the model code of conduct has come into effect in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Mizoram.

Analysts pointed out the poll code does not prevent the government from going ahead with announcing policy decisions which are not state-specific but in the larger benefit.

Among the five states going to the polls, agriculture contributes 40 per cent to the gross state domestic product of Madhya Pradesh, while it is around 27 per cent each in Rajasthan and Chattisgarh.

The increase in the support scheme could help the ruling Modi government in the Lok Sabha polls slated next year as a significant proportion of the population depends on agriculture and allied sectors.

The government is trying to bolster farmers’ income after its inflation-control measures, such as the ban on some rice exports, curbed rural incomes. Besides, the weakest monsoon in five years threatens the harvest of key crops.

All small and marginal landholder farmer families consisting of husband, wife and minor children with cultivable landholding in their names are eligible under the PM-Kisan scheme.

Institutional landholders and farmer families whose member/s have paid income tax in the last assessment year among others are not eligible under the scheme.

Along with an additional sum, the government is considering extending the benefits to tenant farmers and sharecroppers within the scope of the PM-Kisan plan.

The scheme saw savings of Rs 10,000 crore in the past year due to the removal of 1.72 crore ‘ineligible’ beneficiaries. This has enabled the government to consider enlarging the scope of beneficiaries and/or increasing the benefits.

Since the subsidy programme kicked off in December 2018, the Centre has doled out Rs 2.42 lakh crore to around 110 million beneficiaries.