The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) on July 6(Tuesday) demanded a CBI investigation into the irregularities in selecting beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Assam, which were unearthed more than a year ago.
The state agriculture minister admitted to the irregularities in the assembly, but the BJP-led state government did not order a investigation as the ineligible beneficiaries were workers and supporters of the saffron party and its ally, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the AJP claimed.
The matter caught momentum in May, 2020.
“The government has failed to act on the allegations. Instead, it is washing its hands off the scam by merely urging the ineligible beneficiaries to return the money they have received,” AJP vice-president Someswar Singh said.
Under the PM-KISAN scheme, which has been functioning since December 1, 2018, in the country, farmers receive Rs 6,000 every year in the form of three equal installments of Rs 2,000 each. The eighth installment of the scheme was issued in May, 2021.
Out of above 39.39 lakh original applicants under the scheme in the state, 9,39,146 non-eligible beneficiaries have been recognized. The number of eligible person reduced to 18.67 lakh after further exclusions on technical grounds, including discrepancies in bank account details, said Agriculture Minister Atul Bora during the Assembly in September 2020.
Bora, the AGP president, holds the same portfolio in the current coalition government, which assumed charge in May this year.
The minister appealed to the non-eligible beneficiaries to return the money when the irregularities were unearthed last year, which elicited response from only 819 such people, claimed Singh.
“The department or the government failed to take any preventive measures to ensure no recurrence of such a scam even after the matter had come to light last year itself,” he said alleging that instalment money was paid even after the irregularities had come to light.
“The BJP and AGP leaders and workers are getting the money under the scheme. Hence, no action has been initiated,” Singh said.
Genuine farmers were deprived of the benefits because of this, especially when they are experiencing hardships due to the repeated lockdowns, he claimed
“We demand a CBI enquiry to get to the root of the entire matter,” the AJP leader added.
The Congress, the main opposition party, had also demanded a CBI enquiry into the scam when it had first come to light in May 2020.
Former Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had also admitted that anomalies have taken place.
At least three agriculture department officers were suspended for their alleged role in the irregularities last year. (PTI)