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Bengal

'10L state farmers deprived of PM Kisan Nidhi Scheme'

10L state farmers deprived of PM Kisan Nidhi Scheme
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KOLKATA: State Agriculture minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said at the state Assembly on Wednesday that transparency was strictly followed in Bengal in extending benefits to genuine beneficiaries under Krishak Bandhu scheme.

The minister's statement came at the backdrop of Kandi MLA Apurba Sarkar's query over Rs 2200 crore being lifted under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, a similar Central scheme.

Chattopadhyay had said on Monday that 10 lakh farmers in the state have been deprived under PM Kisan Nidhi scheme.

"Till date, data related to 59 lakh farmers have been uploaded in the requisite portal, but the Centre has cleared benefits for 38 lakh farmers in January this year. Though 10 lakh farmers have already received sanction in connection with their application, they have been deprived till now,"he said.

Funds under PM Kisan Nidhi is disbursed in a gap of three to four months, thrice in a year.

Sarkar, during the question answer session, said the PM Kisan scheme had been embroiled in corruption since its inception and enquired about the measures taken by the state government for genuine beneficiaries to avail facilities of the scheme.

"We examine the land record and land deed (if available), then the Aadhaar card is assessed along with all other relevant documents in connection to a farmer's land and then only it is uploaded in the portal,"Chattopadhyay said.

Over 77 lakh farmers have availed facilities of the Krishak Bandhu scheme in Bengal till January in the 2021-22 financial year.

Bengal is the only state that extends Krishak Bandhu benefits to share croppers too.

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