PM Kishan Scheme: Gauhati High Court serves notice to Assam government

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has issued a show-cause notice to the State government on the 'PM Kishan Scheme' scam. A division bench of the High Court has asked the State government to reply the show-cause notice within four weeks.

The 'Amguri Naba Nirman Samity' had filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) against, what it said, the benefits of the 100 per cent Centrally-funded PM Kishan Scheme going to a large number of farmers of Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat and Charaideo districts who don't fall under the category of the Scheme.

The petitioner further alleged that faulty selection of beneficiaries under the scheme deprived the genuine farmers. They approached the High Court seeking justice.

According to official sources, around nine lakh ineligible persons were included in the list of beneficiary farmers of the Scheme. A total of 39 lakh farmers had registered their names as beneficiaries under the Scheme.

Under the scheme, Rs 6,000 as an annual income support is deposited in the account of each beneficiary farmer in three equal installments.

Earlier when there was a hue and cry on the anomalies in the Scheme, the State government got the irregularities investigated by the then Additional Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua. After he submitted his report, lakhs of rupees were recovered from the accounts of farmers ineligible for the scheme.

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