Staff Reporter
Guwahati: A total of 98 Agriculture Development Officers (ADOs) are now facing the music in connection with the irregularities in the multi-crore Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM Kisan) scam. Departmental proceedings (DPs) are being carried out against them by the state government.
The development came after the Gauhati High Court delivered a judgement in a PIL case (PIL No. 73/2020) filed by Amguri Naba Nirman Samity before the High Court, praying, amongst others, to order a high-level inquiry against the corrupt officials involved in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PMKSN) scheme, launched by the Central Government in the year 2019. The High Court, after hearing the parties, issued an order dated November 25, 2022, directing the state government to take appropriate action against the erring officers of the Agriculture Department by taking into consideration the one-man inquiry report.
More than one and a half years had already elapsed after the passing of the aforesaid HC order dated November 25, 2022, but no information or order regarding the developments following the directions by the Gauhati High Court was made available to Diganta Saikia, President of Amguri Nabanirman Samiti (ANS). He proceeded to submit several RTI applications, asking about the outcome of the HC order. In a reply from the Agriculture Department recently, it was mentioned that a total of 98 ADOs are facing departmental proceedings in light of the irregularities committed in disbursing PM KISAN benefits. A large number of bogus beneficiaries were named in the lists drawn up by officials entrusted with the job. However, it remains a mystery that no high-level official was implicated in the scam, although it is the duty of those at the helm to ensure that genuine farmers are benefitted and no eligible person was deprived of the due benefits. Moreover, Saikia pointed out that no ADOs in several districts in Upper and Lower Assam were named in the list.
Talking to The Sentinel, ANS president Diganta Saikia said, “Although there are 98 names of ADOs from different districts, there is no name of any ADO in seven districts of Upper Assam and two in Lower Assam. That is why I will again move the Gauhati High Court to pursue the case.”
Saikia pointed out that no ADOs in the districts of Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat, and Golaghat in Upper Assam and Bongaigaon and Chirang in Lower Assam were named in the lists provided to him by the department, although fake beneficiaries were named in these districts also.
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