IT News
Imphal, June 11:
At what could be term as looting of public money, monetary assistance provided under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) seems to be enjoyed by Ghost beneficiaries in Khoijuman Khullen, Khoijuman Khunou and Nachou villages of Bishnupur block in Bishnupur district.
PM-KISAN was launched by the government of India to augment the income of the Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs). The Scheme aims to supplement the financial needs of the SMFs in procuring various input to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, Commensurate with the anticipated farm income at the end of the each crop cycle.
The list of the beneficiaries under the scheme is being uploaded at the official website www.pmkisan.gov.in. As per the lists uploaded for Khoijuman Khullen Village, a total of 221 farmers are being benefitted by the scheme. However, around half the number of beneficiaries are Muslim names who does not exist in the village. Similar is the case for Khoijuman Khunou and Nachou Villages. Half the names of the villagers are Muslim names that do not exist in the Villages.
Pradhan of Khoijuman Kwaksiphai Gram Panchayat, Thoudam Ongbi Ahanbi Devi, while being contacted by Imphal Times said that they have no Muslim family in the villages stated above and that the name in the list are not existed in the villages. When enquired on whether she had any knowledge of the PM-KISAN scheme, she said that some names had been submitted for getting financial support under the schemed but she had no idea of how names of person that do not live in the village nor had cultivable land in the village included in the list. When asked if any of the name submitted by her had received any monetary assistant under the PM-KISAN scheme, Ahanbi Devi said that some of the name she had submitted had received Rs. 2000/- each as assistance.
The financial assistance provided to small and marginal farmers under PM-KISAN scheme are going to many persons who do not live in the three villages in Bishnupur district. Whether the names in the lists which the Pradhan have no knowledge of existing in the three villages actually existed or are ghost created by district administration authority is a matter that needs to be pondered on.
