GUWAHATI : A sum of Rs 6000 (Rupees Six Thousand) per farmer was granted under Pradhan Mantri Kishan Sanman Nidhi (PMKSN) scheme all over the country for the financial year 2019- 20. Assam government selected approximately 36 lakh farmer beneficiaries under this scheme as per the statement of state agriculture minister in the review meeting held at Guwahati on July 5, 2021 in the presence of Union Agriculture Minister of State Sri Purushattam Rupala. The money was also accordingly disbursed to the beneficiary farmers. Thereafter, there was a serious hue and cry in Assam in 2020 when it came to light that most of the beneficiaries were not genuine and they managed to enter in the select list by submitting false documents.
In the said review meeting, Assam Agriculture Minsiter admitted that out of 36 lakh beneficiaries only 19.47 lakh were found genuine and 11.72 lakhs were not genuine at all and they were not entitled to get Rs 6000.00 under PMKSN as per the guidelines. Assam government has not yet been able to identify the 5 lakh beneficiaries from the selected list as there is no existence of the 5 lakh beneficiaries. This is a serious scam and question arises how the money sanctioned for poor farmers can be distributed to undeserving persons?
How Assam government prepared the list of 36 lakhs farmers where 11.72 lakh beneficiaries were selected through false documents and 5 lakh beneficiaries are not found in the field ? After the scam came to limelight in Assam, the government declared that they would take back the money already disbursed to the 11.72 lakh undeserving farmers. It is pertinent to mention that Union Agriculture Minister Sri Narendra Singh Tomar on July 20, 2021 informed Parliament that Rs 554.01 crores has to be recovered from 8.35 ineligible farmers in Assam which was paid to them under PMKSN. In view of this serious scam, I demand the Government of India to order a CBI enquiry into this scam of selecting and disbursing fund to 11.72 lakh ineligible farmers and another 5 lakh farmers who are not in existence in the field and to give exemplary punishment to those involved in this scam. Also, I demand that the Government take back the fund paid to the ineligible farmers and distribute the same among genuine farmers under PMKSN.
