PM Kisan eligibility and exclusions

PM-KISAN eligibility rests on one main test and a list of exclusions. The main test: your family must own cultivable land recorded in its own name in the state’s land records. The exclusions then remove families of higher economic status — government employees, larger pensioners, income tax payers, practising professionals and people who hold or held high public office.

The eligibility rules and the exclusion list come from the scheme’s Operational Guidelines and the official Revised FAQ published on pmkisan.gov.in. The final decision on any case is always made by your State or Union Territory government, which verifies each farmer before payment.

Who is eligible: landholding farmer families

The official FAQ puts it in one line: all landholding farmers’ families which have cultivable landholding in their names are eligible. Three words in that sentence matter:

• Landholding — you must be an owner on the land record, not just the person who farms the land.
• Cultivable — the land must be farm land that can be cultivated.
• In their names — the record must show your name or the name of your spouse or minor child.

States use their existing land-ownership records to identify beneficiaries. That is why your land record (khatauni, jamabandi, 7/12 extract, patta, RoR or whatever your state calls it) is the most important document in PM-KISAN.

What “family” means

For PM-KISAN a landholder farmer’s family is “a family comprising of husband, wife and minor children who own cultivable land as per the land records of the concerned State/UT”. The benefit of ₹6,000 a year is per family, not per person.

This has practical effects:

• Husband and wife cannot both receive PM-KISAN for the same family.
• An adult son or daughter who owns land in their own name forms a separate family and can qualify separately, if otherwise eligible.
• A minor’s land counts with the parents’ family, not as a separate family.
• The cut-off date for a minor becoming a major is 1 February 2019.

In 2026 the official portal posted a notice that cases where more than one family member was receiving the benefit — for example both husband and wife, or an adult and a minor — had been temporarily withheld until physical verification. If that applies to you, read why payments stop.

No land-size limit since 1 June 2019

When the scheme launched in February 2019 it covered only small and marginal farmers, meaning families with combined holdings of up to 2 hectares. The scheme was revised with effect from 1 June 2019 and extended to all farmer families irrespective of the size of their land. A family with 10 acres or 50 acres is treated the same as one with 1 acre, as long as no exclusion applies.

If several farmer families are recorded together on one landholding, each family is separately eligible for up to ₹6,000, provided each is otherwise eligible. If one family’s land is spread across several villages, districts or states, it is paid in one place only.

The cut-off date of 1 February 2019

The Operational Guidelines fix 1 February 2019 as the date for deciding eligibility. Changes in landholding after that date are not considered, with one important exception: transfer of ownership through succession on the death of the landowner.

When land is transferred after the cut-off by sale, partition deed, gift deed or similar, the Guidelines say the transferee is not eligible because they were not the owner on 1 February 2019. The person who gave the land away also becomes ineligible if their family is left with no cultivable land.

Land acquired after 1 February 2019 is one of the categories the portal named in 2026 as “suspected cases” under physical verification. If your land came by inheritance, keep the succession papers and mutation order ready to show the verifying officer.

Inherited land

Inheritance is treated differently because it is not a choice. If the owner died and the land passed to the heirs, the heirs’ families can be included if they are otherwise eligible. If the deceased beneficiary’s spouse or minor children still hold cultivable land, the benefit can continue for them after they give fresh details and a self-declaration to the state authorities. The land record must first be updated (mutated) in the heirs’ names at the revenue office.

The exclusion list

These are the exclusion categories exactly as the Operational Guidelines describe them. If any member of the family falls in any category, the family is not eligible.

Every category in the table excludes the whole family. Where the second column says Yes, Multi Tasking Staff, Class IV and Group D employees are not removed by that rule.

Government employees and the Group D exception

All serving or retired officers and employees of central and state government ministries, offices and departments and their field units, central or state public sector enterprises, attached offices, autonomous institutions under government, and regular employees of local bodies are excluded — even if they own farm land in their village.

The official FAQ makes an explicit exception: serving or retired Multi Tasking Staff, Class IV and Group D employees are eligible, provided their families are otherwise eligible and no other exclusion applies. So a retired peon, gardener or helper in a government office who owns farm land may qualify, while a retired clerk or officer does not.

Pensioners and the ₹10,000 limit

Retired pensioners whose monthly pension is ₹10,000 or more are excluded, again with the Multi Tasking Staff, Class IV and Group D exception. The limit is ₹10,000 per month: ₹9,999 is below it, ₹10,000 is not.

Income tax payers and professionals

If any family member paid income tax in the last assessment year, the family is excluded. This applies to the spouse too: the official FAQ answers “No” to the question of whether an income tax payee farmer or his or her spouse is eligible. PM-KISAN data is checked against Income Tax Department records, so an incorrect declaration is usually found later and the money has to be returned.

Doctors, engineers, lawyers, chartered accountants and architects who are registered with their professional bodies and practising are also excluded.

NRIs

For new beneficiaries uploaded to the portal, landholding families who are Non-resident Indians under the Income Tax Act, 1961 are excluded.

Tenant farmers, sharecroppers and land in a parent’s name

The FAQ is direct: a farmer who cultivates land but does not hold it in their own name, such as a tenant farmer, is not eligible, because landholding is the sole criterion. A person farming land owned by a father or grandfather is also not eligible until the land is transferred to them by succession and the record updated.

If your parent has died and the land is still in their name, the first step is mutation at the tehsil or revenue office. Once your name is on the record, you can apply.

Urban land, micro holdings and non-farm use

• Urban land: there is no distinction between rural and urban cultivable land, as long as the urban land is under actual cultivation.
• Micro holdings: tiny plots that are not cultivable are excluded.
• Non-agricultural use: farm land being used for non-agricultural purposes, such as a shop, brick kiln or housing plot, is not covered.
• North-East and Jharkhand: where land is held by the community, alternative methods approved by the Government apply in Manipur, Nagaland and Jharkhand, such as certificates from the village authority or a verified lineage chart.

Quick eligibility checker

The checker asks only yes-or-no questions about your family and land. It never asks for Aadhaar, phone or bank details. It applies the official land rules and every category in the exclusion list and gives a clear answer: likely eligible, or not eligible with the reason and the rule it comes from. Your state still makes the final decision.

Self-declaration and wrong claims

States certify eligibility on the basis of a self-declaration from the farmer. The declaration includes consent to use Aadhaar to verify eligibility with other agencies. If a declaration is wrong, the beneficiary is liable for recovery of the money and other penal action under the law. By December 2025, ₹416.75 crore had been recovered from ineligible beneficiaries across the country.

If you were paid while ineligible, the portal’s Online Refund option and your state agriculture office explain how to return it. If you are eligible but no longer want the benefit, the portal also offers Voluntary Surrender.

If you were wrongly marked ineligible

Lists of beneficiaries are displayed at the village level so that eligible families who were left out can come forward. If your status shows ineligible and you believe that is wrong:

1. Check the reason shown in Know Your Status or ask Kisan e-Mitra.
2. Collect proof: your current land record, mutation order for inherited land, and pension or service papers if you are Group D.
3. Meet your block or district agriculture officer — find them through Search your Point of Contact.
4. Raise a complaint on the Helpdesk – Query Form or approach the District Level Grievance Redressal Monitoring Committee.

See the helpline and grievance page for every route.

FAQ

Next steps: register as a new farmer, learn about land seeding, or read the PM Kisan FAQ.