Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district administration has sent notices for the recovery of funds to 4,189 individuals who received more than Rs 5.72 crore through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM Kisan Yojana) programme despite being ineligible, The Tribune reported on Saturday.
The publication reports that these individuals were not farmers - whom the scheme is meant for - rather, they earned income from pensions and salaries, with some even being income tax payers.
In some instances, even Class 1 government officials benefited from the scheme, the report notes.
As part of their efforts, the district administration has deployed 24 revenue officials to identify and recover funds from these ineligible recipients. As per the report, 722 individuals have returned Rs 95.36 lakh to the government so far -- that means, over 80 per cent of the amount is yet to be recovered.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, launched by the Centre in 2019, was designed to support small and marginal farmers.
The publication quoted a senior state government official who said that more ineligible beneficiaries were likely to be exposed as the investigations continue.
The report notes that as per a notification dated February 24, 2019, the Centre clarified that government employees, pensioners, current, and former MLAs and MPs, income tax payers, and pensioners with incomes exceeding Rs 10,000 per month were not eligible for the scheme.
Nipun Jindal, Deputy Commissioner of Kangra, told the publication that tehsildars (land revenue officers) in the district were responsible for recovering the funds. He further added that the entire episode came to light when the Centre made KYC registration mandatory for all scheme beneficiaries.
Published 16 September 2023, 13:22 IST