Lucknow. Mar 15 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government will launch a drive from May 1 to May 30 to verify the credentials of beneficiaries of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi and to benefit more eligible farmers.

The state's Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi said an amount of Rs 52,000 crore had been transferred to the bank accounts of 26 crore farmers since the Centre introduced the scheme in 2018.

He noted that still many eligible farmers were not able to avail the scheme because they did not link their Aadhaar details to their bank accounts or had not made available their land-holding details.

On the other hand, there were others who got benefits of the scheme despite not being eligible, he added.

"We have decided to launch a mega drive from May 1 to 30 where lekhpals would verify land records and upload the same on a website. Class one and class two officers of the department will visit districts to ensure that the saturation work is being done properly."

He said the purchase of rye, sarson, chana and masoor at minimum support price will start from April 1.