By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, Oct 23:
Close on the heels of a Rs 110 crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PMKSNY) scam in Tamil Nadu, a scam has surfaced in Pune in Maharashtra and the Union Government has directed the Pune district collector to recover Rs 14.07 crore deposited in banks in the name of fictitious beneficiaries.
Nearly 5.31 lakh farmers in Pune had enrolled online after the scheme was announced in February this year. Of these 16,118 were found to be bogus beneficiaries who included tax payers, government servants, professionals and even dead persons, in 14 talukas.
Under the PMKSNY small farmers with less than 5 acre land are given Rs 6,000 per year as assistance. However during the scrutiny, it was noticed that several ineligible people had enrolled themselves to derive the benefit.
Now concerned staff members of the revenue department have been asked to verify all the records and recover the money from bogus beneficiaries, from their possession. The action is also being taken against those involved in over looking irregularities
In Tamil Nadu, the matter is being investigated by CID and 16 people have already been arrested. Besides, Rs 1.3 crore have been recovered from 2,685 ineligible farmers in Vellore.
Implemented by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, the PMKSNY is a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from Government of India. Under the Scheme an income support of Rs.6000/- per year is provided to farmer families across the country in three equal instalments of Rs.2000/- each every four months.
Definition of family for the Scheme is husband, wife and minor children. The entire responsibility of identification of beneficiary farmer families rests with the State / UT Governments. The fund is directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. Farmers covered under the exclusion criteria of the operational guidelines are not eligible for the benefit of the Scheme.
For enrolment, the farmer is required to approach the local patwari / revenue officer / Nodal Officer (PM-Kisan) nominated by the State Government. The Common Service Centres (CSCs) have also been authorized to do registration of the farmers for the scheme upon payment of fees. Farmers can also do their self-registration through the Farmers’ Corner in the portal. They can also edit their names in PM-Kisan database as per their Aadhaar database / card through the Farmers’ Corner in the portal. They can also know the status of their payment through the Farmers’ Corner in the portal.
Taluka wise break up of fictitious beneficiaries and amount recoverable in Pune district: Ambegaon-.beneficiaries-1171-Recoverable Amount-Rs.104,62,000, Baramati-.beneficiaries-2394-Recoverable Amount-Rs.2,14,86,000, Bhor-.beneficiaries-633-Recoverable Amount-Rs.5,506000, Daund-.beneficiaries-1673-Recoverable Amount-Rs.152,56,000, Haveli-.beneficiaries-692-Recoverable Amount-Rs.64,12,000, Indapur-.beneficiaries-1037-Recoverable Amount-Rs.88,56,000, Junnar-beneficiaries-2140-Recoverable Amount-Rs.1,75,98,000, Khed-beneficiaries-1473-Recoverable Amount-Rs.1,30,52,000, Mawal-beneficiaries-538-Recoverable Amount-Rs.4998,000, Mulshi-beneficiaries-830-Recoverable Amount-Rs.72,40,000, Purandar-beneficiaries-1340-Recoverable Amount-Rs.1,10,50,000, Shirur-beneficiaries-1925-Recoverable Amount-Rs.1,64,40,000, Velha-beneficiaries-272-Recoverable Amount-Rs.23,48,000. Total beneficiaries 16,118- total amount recoverable-Rs. 14,704,000.
