To provide some relief to farmers affected due to the nationwide lockdown, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government on Thursday (26th March 2020) announced that it will transfer the first instalment of Rs 2,000 to around 8.69 crore beneficiaries under the PM-Kisan yojana in April. This was the much-needed announcement that farmers across the country were waiting for in this lockdown situation. Announcing the relief measures in just 36 hours of nationwide lockdown, Nirmala Sithraman, Union Finance Minister said that "Farmers get Rs 6,000 annually from PM-Kisan scheme (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana). We will now be releasing the first instalment of that as a front-loaded matter, so that at the beginning of the year farmers will get Rs 2,000".