Assam tops the list of ineligible farmers who were wrongly paid ₹554 crore under PM-KISAN scheme

July 20: In what seems to be a matter of utter surprise is that nearly ₹3,000 crores have been transferred to 42 lakh ineligible farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme and the Central government is now recovering the amount. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has informed the Parliament on Tuesday that during the verification process this matter was discerned.

Sharing state-wise data on ineligible beneficiaries, the minister said  that Assam topped the list of ineligible farmers followed by Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Maharashtra.  Assam wrongly paid Rs 554 crore to 8.35 lakh farmers under PM-KISAN scheme and that is now expected to be recovered – informed Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in Parliament. From the total wrongful payment of Rs 2992 crore, one fifth is from Assam only.

Under the welfare scheme, the central government transfers Rs 6,000 annually to lakhs of farmers across the country in three instalments of Rs 2,000 each. There is an eligibility criterion that a farmer needs to fulfil to avail the scheme, under which a farmer should not be paying any income tax.  However, during the process of verification it was found that the benefit of the Scheme was transferred to some ineligible beneficiaries including some income tax payee farmers, Tomar told the parliament.

The list for state-wise recovery amount is topped by Assam at Rs 554 crore, followed by Punjab at Rs 437 crore and Maharashtra at Rs 358 crore. Rs 340 crore, Rs 258 crore and Rs 220 Crore have to be recovered from Tamil Nadu, UP and Gujarat, respectively.

“Standard Operation Guidelines have been issued for recovering money from ineligible beneficiaries. Standard Operational Guidelines for the identification of Income Tax Payees have been prepared and circulated to the States. Caution Advisory has been sent to the States to adopt measures during the registration and verification of farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme and Standard Operational Guidelines for Physical Verification of PM-KISAN beneficiaries have been circulated to the State Governments,” Tomar added.

Taking to his twitter handle, writer from Assam, Mrinal Taluqdar commented, “Now the next question is- has it affected the voting in just concluded Assam Assembly election?”