E-Paper
Data glitches keep farmers waiting for next instalment
PM-KISAN
PM-KISAN
LUCKNOW Millions of farmers in Uttar Pradesh are waiting for the next instalment of Rs 2,000 to be credited to their bank account under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) but the agriculture department has not even begun the work to identify beneficiaries in many districts, according to those aware of the situation.
Data verification of the already identified beneficiaries is also not complete, they say
The data validation alone, according to these sources, may take months to complete, delaying transfer of the income support money to farmers unless the Centre relents and agrees to credit the next instalment, which is already due, without Aadhaar verification.
“The progress of identification of beneficiaries and data verification/correction is very slow and it may take at least three-four months for the work to be completed though we are monitoring the progress regularly, setting a fresh deadline every time,” a senior official said.
A brief note prepared after the chief secretary’s review meeting early this month shows that data of 2.46 crore (24.6 million) farmers out the 2.91 crore (29.1 million) beneficiaries has been fed so far with the data of 45.48 lakh (4.5 million) farmers yet to be keyed in.
“Work on the feeding data of eligible and ineligible farmers has not even begun in many districts,” the note says.
Only 1.67 crore (16.7 million) of the total 2.04 crore (20.04 million) farmers whose data has been sent to the Centre have been covered under the scheme so far.
The progress regarding data feeding has been especially found very slow in Maharajganj, Jaunpur, Amethi, Varanasi, Gonda, Banda, Mau, Sambhal, Baharaich and Ambedkarnagar districts.
The chief secretary’s note shows that 110 lakh (11 million) farmers’ names mentioned in the Aadhaar card are not correct, coming in the way of their availing of the benefits of scheme.
“During a video conference in November, the chief secretary had asked officials to launch a drive, making corrections in names by November 30, but corrections could be made only in one lakh (100,000) names,” the note indicated.
Fifteen lakh (1.5 million) farmers are deprived of the benefit of the scheme because their bank accounts and IFSC are incorrect and the Centre has rejected their claim for this reason only.
Under the PM-Kisan, beneficiaries get up to Rs 6,000 annually as minimum income support in instalments. As many as 93% of the beneficiaries received Rs 2,000 as the inaugural instalment for the Lok Sabha polls, the percentage of beneficiaries of the second instalment for April-July reduced to 81% and the third instalment for August-November also did not reach all farmers.
The Centre had made it clear that the instalment, due in December, would be credited to those farmers whose Aadhaar and other details were correct.
The Opposition too raised the issue of glitches in the execution of PM-Kisan in the Vidhan Parishad on December 18. Samajwadi Party (SP) members alleged that the money already credited was being recovered from many farmers (due to incorrect data having been fed).
CUTTING A SORRY FIGURE
Districts with the poorest performance in correction of Aadhaar names of beneficiaries up to November 29
District Aadhaar Correction Target Achievement (%) up to Nov 29
Amethi 147929 3.26
Jhansi 115751 3.58
Jalaun 87,474 2.90
Chitrakoot 83156 3.12
Banda 116956 2.63
Fatehpur 185177 3.65
Shrawasti 105,434 2.84
Mahoba 69276 1.88
Sonbhadra 110214 2.32
Bahraich 22533 3.62
