New Delhi: The Central Government has ordered a nationwide inquiry into allegations that fake farmers benefited from the Prime Minister’s Farmers’ Scheme and a large amount of funds were leaked. Under this scheme, the central government has given more than Rs 1 lakh crore to farmers’ accounts. There are 1.10 crore farmers in Maharashtra.
The Center has asked the state governments to make sure that the beneficiary is a farmer. The Central Government remits Rs. 2,000 every four months to the accounts of eligible beneficiary farmers. A major scam in the scheme was uncovered in Tamil Nadu.
A senior agriculture ministry official said that “some crooks misused the login and password of the district authorities to register a large number of ineligible persons under the scheme.”
Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has admitted that there was a massive scam in the PM-Kisan scheme in Tamil Nadu. As on September 15, 2020, the accounts of 5.95 lakh beneficiaries were examined and it was found that 5.38 lakh were ineligible. The services of 96 contract workers were terminated, while 52 people, including contract workers, were arrested and a large number of crimes were registered.
Total farmers: 14.64 crore
Beneficiaries of PM-Kisan: 11.07 crore
Beneficiaries in Maharashtra: 1.10 crore
Funds given: 1.10 lakh crore
Fake beneficiaries exposed: 5.38 lakh in Tamil Nadu
Since it is the responsibility of the states to identify the beneficiaries, it is also their responsibility to recover the money lost in the scheme and return it to the Center.
Rs 61 crore was recovered, the official said. The Center has ordered a nationwide inquiry to find out whether there are similar scams in other states.