Ahead of the 2020 Assembly elections, the Delhi government led by Chief Minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal has come on board to implement the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme on Monday, reports Hindu Businessline.

The decision to implement the scheme gains significance as the CM Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government had earlier refused implementation of the ambitious scheme of the Centre.

Under the scheme, farmers across the nation are entitled to receive income support to the tune of Rs 6,000 annually, divided in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each.

According to the report, the decision comes just months ahead of the Assembly elections, scheduled to be held in mid-January 2020, as the Delhi government reportedly wanted to avoid a backlash from farmers during the polls.

Commenting on the decision by Delhi government, joint secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Vivek Agarwal said that the Delhi government agreed to implement the scheme after much persuasion and has shared an initial list of as many as 11,000 farmers.

So far, this year, as many as seven crore farmers have received their first instalment of Rs 2,000, 5.6 crore farmers have received the second instalment, while 3.2 crore farmers have received the third instalment.