Release funds to pay arrears to farmers under PM-KISAN scheme: Mamata to PM
A day after writing to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi seeking free COVID-19 vaccination forall, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursdayagain shot a letter to him reminding him of his assurancesmade during election campaigns on releasing arrears of Rs18,000 to farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme.
Despite assurances by the prime minister, no fund hasbeen received by either the state government or the farmers,Banerjee said in the letter.
“I will like to further impress that during yourrecent visits to the state you gave repeated assurances onreleasing the arrear amount to Rs 18,000 to each farmer buttill date no fund has been received by the state government orthe farmers.
“I will request you to kindly advise the concernedministry to release due fund(s) to the eligible farmers andshare the database of the 21.79 lakh farmers,” the letterread.
In its election manifesto, the BJP has promised toprovide Rs 18,000 to 75 lakh farmers of the state under thePradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme. Farmersget Rs 6,000 a year in three equal instalments under it.
Banerjee also reminded him of the letters writtento the Centre earlier by the state government on providing thefarmers of West Bengal with the benefits of the centralscheme.
“Several communications were also made from the stateagriculture department. However, no concrete response has yetbeen received from the Ministry on this,” she wrote in theletter, adding that state nodal agency and state nodal officerwere appointed and two bank accounts were opened for thepurpose.
“Out of the 21.79 lakh farmers who had registered forthe scheme as per the letter of the union agriculture ministersent last November, 14.91 lakh data have been updated inportal, which were duly verified and of which 9.84 lakh dataare ready for PFMS,” she said.
PFMS (Public Financial Management System) is aplatform for e-payment of subsidy under Direct BenefitTransfer.
In the letter, Banerjee said that the stategovernment, under the Krishak Bandhu scheme, has alreadydisbursed Rs 1,498 crore to 57.67 lakh eligible farmers and Rs242 crore to families of deceased farmers till February.
Comparing the income support schemes of the Centre andthe state, Banerjee claimed that PM-Kisan has excluded manypeople associated with agriculture.
“The PM-Kisan has long exclusion list comprising ofBargadar/sharecroppers, persons giving self-declaration,serving/retired employees, Income Tax payers etc. Moreover,under the Krishak Bandhu scheme, beneficiaries get deathbenefit assistance of Rs two lakh for death below 60 years ofage,” she wrote.
This is the second letter Banerjee sent to Modi in twodays after taking oath as the chief minister for the thirdtime in a row on Wednesday.
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