Centre not transferring benefits to 2.5L farmers despite completion of state's verification: CM

Kolkata: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioned the Trinamool Congress (TMC) dispensation for not implementing central schemes in Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told the Assembly on Monday that Centre has not initiated transferring benefits to 2.5 lakh farmers under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme despite completion of their verification by the state.

Banerjee, taking a swipe at Modi, said "he had inculcated the habit of telling lies". In the same breath, she also demanded the inclusion of sharecroppers and agricultural workers under the scheme.

The Chief Minister also sought to know why the Union government has not disbursed any cash benefit to the beneficiaries yet.

Banerjee told the House that the state government had received a list of six lakh applicants from the Centre for verification, of which 2.5 lakh names have been sent to the Centre for financial assistance under the central welfare programme.

"It has become a habit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tell lies. He is saying that the state government is not allowing implementation of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi in Bengal. It is incorrect. They have a separate portal for the scheme in which 22 lakh farmers from the state are said to be enrolled for the scheme. They have provided us the data of 6 lakh out of them for verification. We have already completed verification of 2.5 lakh farmers and the verified list has already been sent to the Centre. Then, why is the Centre not initiating transfer of benefits to these farmers," Banerjee said in the House, on its last day of working before the forthcoming Assembly elections. Banerjee termed Modi's government as "ruthless", accusing it for depriving the people of Bengal, including farmers and now targeting the state by "showing love" as it is election time here.

She also took a dig at the senior leadership of the saffron brigade as BJP's national president J P Nadda, during his last visit to Bengal, had referred to Swami Vivekananda as "Thakur". "Icons of Bengal are not given respect and now I heard some Yogi is going to visit Nanoor (in Birbhum district). Do they know anything about Nanoor that they are going to visit?" Banerjee said, adding that "Gujarat will never rule Bengal".

Comparing PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi with the state's Kishan Bandhu scheme, the Chief Minister said they are giving the benefits to a section while every farmer in Bengal is getting benefitted through the Krishak Bandhu scheme.

Out of 72 lakh farmers in the state, already around 60 lakh have been brought under the Krishak Bandhu scheme and the process of enrolling them under the scheme became easier with the state government allowing the same against self-declaration on holding of land by the farmers.

While addressing the Khelashree programme at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Banerjee added that those spreading false propaganda must know that it is the state government that spent crores to tackle the aftermath of Super Cyclone Amphan. "Despite the Prime Minister's visit to witness the aftermath, only Rs 1,000 crore was provided and that too is the state's usual allotment under the disaster management fund," Banerjee informed the House.