IT News
Imphal, Mar 5:
A follow-up audit of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Manipur has revealed large-scale irregularities, including payments made to beneficiaries without proper documentation, ineligible individuals, and income tax payees. The findings highlight serious lapses in verification and monitoring, leading to the wrongful disbursement of Rs. 65.49 crore as of March 2021.
The audit uncovered that 92,924 out of 5,92,290 beneficiaries were approved between November 2019 and February 2021 without the required supporting documents. These approvals were granted by the State Nodal Officer (SNO) under user ID MANI01. Crucially, the SNO failed to retain key documents such as Jamabandi (land records), bank passbooks, and Aadhaar cards for verification. As per scheme guidelines, information uploaded at the district, tehsil, or block level should be verified by supervisory officials against original documents to prevent errors and fraud.
Of the 92,924 beneficiaries registered without supporting documents, the Agriculture Department identified 708 ineligible beneficiaries who were approved without verification, resulting in the disbursement of Rs. 26.50 lakh. Additionally, the audit uncovered another 92,216 ineligible beneficiaries registered without proper documentation, who collectively received Rs. 54.38 crore. This brings the total amount disbursed to beneficiaries without supporting documents to Rs.54.65 crore across five instalments.
Further analysis exposed major flaws in the registration process. The audit found that 639 beneficiaries had invalid mobile numbers, while 1,214 beneficiaries had no mobile numbers at all.
Additionally, 42,685 beneficiaries shared duplicate mobile numbers, and five beneficiaries had duplicate bank accounts. The report also noted that 28,785 beneficiaries lacked land records, seven beneficiaries did not have block names listed, and 14,632 beneficiaries were missing date-of-birth information. Furthermore, 6,344 beneficiaries had bank accounts located outside Manipur.
The Agriculture Department acknowledged the audit findings, stating that approvals were granted in the scheme’s initial phase due to a lack of knowledge at the time. However, as of March 2023, no corrective measures had been taken to address these irregularities or recover the funds paid to ineligible beneficiaries.
The audit also found that 3,105 beneficiaries across nine districts—Bishnupur, Kakching, Kamjong, Kangpokpi, Noney, Pherzawl, Senapati, Thoubal, and Ukhrul—were flagged as ineligible by the Nodal Department. Despite this, they received Rs. 24.68 lakh in payments by March 2021.
The Department responded that identifying beneficiaries was the responsibility of the Deputy Commissioners in each district. Due to ongoing cybercrime investigations into fraudulent registrations in Thoubal, Bishnupur, and Kakching, payments in these districts were put on hold.
As per PM-KISAN scheme guidelines, income tax payees are not eligible for benefits. However, the audit found that 1,296 such beneficiaries were wrongly included in the scheme and received Rs. 56 lakh in payments by March 2021, directly violating eligibility criteria.
In total, Rs. 65.49 crore was paid to 1,91,244 ineligible beneficiaries, underscoring severe lapses in verification and monitoring. Of this amount, Rs. 10.03 crore was disbursed to beneficiaries fraudulently registered using government employee user IDs, Rs. 54.65 crore was disbursed to beneficiaries without supporting documents, Rs. 24.68 lakh was disbursed to beneficiaries flagged as ineligible by the Nodal Department, and Rs. 56 lakh was disbursed to beneficiaries who were income tax payees.
The audit has recommended that the Department validate bank account details and take immediate steps to recover the misallocated funds.
The latest findings further expose systemic flaws in the PM-KISAN scheme’s implementation in Manipur. The misallocation of funds highlights the urgent need for better verification processes, stricter enforcement of eligibility criteria, and enhanced monitoring mechanisms to prevent future fraud. Authorities must act swiftly to recover the misappropriated funds and ensure accountability for those responsible for these irregularities.
