Crores were paid to 571,745 farmers who were not eligible for PM scheme assistance

Action taken by Maharashtra government to recover Rs 358.99 crore paid in two years: 42 lakh such farmers in the country

Mumbai: Rs 358.99 crore has been paid to 571745 farmers in Maharashtra who are not eligible for assistance under the Prime Minister's Kisan Sanman Nidhi (PM Kisan Cash Transfer Scheme) during the last two years. Now, the Maharashtra government has started the process of recovering the money paid to the farmers.

The scheme provides poor farmers with Rs. Six thousand is paid. Eight installments have been paid so far and the ninth installment was due on August 9 yesterday. A large number of farmers in the state are the beneficiaries of the scheme, the probe said. Out of 571745 beneficiaries receiving assistance despite ineligibility, 2,62960 farmers pay income tax.

The Income Tax Department (IT) has linked the list of farmers paying income tax with the list of beneficiaries of PM Kisan Yojana. The remaining 308785 farmers have also been disqualified for other reasons. This information was given by the Agriculture Commission of the State Government in response to a question under the Right to Information Act.

This is only the information of Maharashtra but at the national level, Rs 2,900 crore was paid to 42 lakh ineligible farmers across the country under this scheme. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in a written reply to Parliament that most of the farmers who received assistance under the PM scheme were from Assam, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Bihar.