‘Fake’ farmers face heat for claiming ₹39 cr
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT HAS SUSPENDED REMITTANCE UNDER PM-KISAN SCHEME IN 11.18 LAKH ACCOUNTS
PATNA: Bihar’s agriculture department has begun a drive for realising about ₹39 crore from 51,000 farmers who have received financial assistance under PM Kisan Samman Yojna (PM-KISAN) by furnishing fake documents to qualify for the scheme, officials familiar with the matter said.
So far, the state’s agriculture directorate, which is nodal agency for implementation of the scheme, ahs been able to realise about ₹5 crore such beneficiaries. “We are asking for the refund of the amount from those farmers who are income tax payees by June-end. The directorate has issued a public notice to remind the farmers for refund or we would be compelled to take legal recourse,” said a senior official of the directorate.
Officials said that the Central government has suspended remittance under PM-KISAN scheme in 11.18 lakh accounts which are not linked with the beneficiaries’ Aadhaar number or the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to avail the direct benefit transfer (DBT) facility.
The state has a total of 82.75 lakh beneficiaries under the PM-KISAN scheme.
“The first instalment of ₹2,000 has been paid to the account of each eligible farmer. Those who have not received the first instalment for the current fiscal (2022-23) have been directed to link their bank accounts with Aadhaar numbers and NPCI and inform the agriculture directorate for quick resolution,” said an official, pleading anonymity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had released 11th instalment of PM-KISAN incentives to the farmers on May 31 this year.
So far, Bihar farmers have received a total of ₹1,670 crore in their accounts under the scheme since it was started in 2019. Under the scheme, each farmer, whose income is not taxable, gets a total of ₹6,000 per annum in instalments.
A deputy director rank official of the agricultural department said eligible farmers have been asked to update their account details on the official website of PM-KISAN scheme and contact the district agriculture officers (DAOs) in case of any confusion.
“The DAOs have been given the list of all farmers, who received the instalments from the Centre against the stipulated criteria for qualification,” he said.