PM KISAN: 14.28 lakh ineligible beneficiaries in Maharashtra receive ₹1, 754 crore

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About 14.28 lakh non-eligible beneficiaries in Maharashtra have received Rs 1,754.50 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Saman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme so far, from which the government has recovered only Rs 93.21 crore from only Rs 1.04 lakh from non-eligible beneficiaries.

PM-KISAN is a central sector scheme funded 100 per cent by the Government of India under which income support of €6,000 per annum is provided in three equal installments to all families of land holding farmers, thus providing them with social and economic security. The amount is transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries without any interference from intermediaries.

Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Mundi in a written reply to state assembly members recently admitted that in some cases in the state, beneficiaries do not even own agricultural land and still receive money under the scheme. There are some recipients who pay income tax and still receive the money.

recovery drive

While denying that the amount to be recovered from ineligible beneficiaries has been recorded in the farmers’ land records, Mundy added that the state revenue department is recovering the amount from ineligible beneficiaries in a time-bound programme.

According to state government officials, the recovery of ineligible beneficiaries is in slow motion because local politicians are not keen on allowing state officials to continue the recovery drive.

As of now, 76.55 of the beneficiary farmers are eligible as they have completed all technical requirements like linking Aadhar to bank account, updating information and KYC to receive funds. Without KYC compliance, about 85 farmers in the state will benefit from this scheme.

The data within the chart is dynamic in nature. States were provided with the option to identify beneficiaries as ineligible and vice versa, after due verification. E-KYC is also done for all the beneficiaries to check their status. Countries were asked to accelerate the process of saturating the system with all eligible beneficiaries.