Over 9.5 crore farmers from across the country, including 7.03 lakh from West Bengal, on Friday, received Rs 20,667 crore payout under the PM Kisan initiative of the centre.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the eighth instalment of financial benefits that include beneficiaries from West Bengal for the first time after the state government buried the hatchet with the Centre.
“Farmers from West Bengal have started receiving their benefits under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM Kisan). As the Centre receives the list of farmers from the state government the number of beneficiaries from the state will increase,” Modi said addressing the farmers after transferring the financial benefits to their bank accounts.
The PM Kisan initiative had been a bone of contention between the Centre and the West Bengal government and had become a political issue during the recently concluded Assembly election.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had refused to share the list of farmers with the Centre insisting that any transfer funds to their bank accounts should be routed through the state government. The Centre had disagreed with the state government, contending that PM Kisan was a central government initiative.
Modi said that around Rs 1.35 lakh crore has been transferred to the bank accounts of farmers under the PM Kisan and Rs 60,000 crore during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under the PM Kisan scheme, a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year is provided to the eligible beneficiary farmer families, payable in three equal 4-monthly instalments of Rs 2,000 each.
The fund is transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
(Published 14 May 2021, 11:12 IST)
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