In one of the first communications sent to the newly sworn-in Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, the Centre has asked it to be part of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme and appoint officers to fast-track the process.
Sources said the communication by the Union Agriculture Ministry mentions that despite the fact that the state government did not provide data of 69 lakh farmers eligible to get Rs 9,660 crores collectively under the central scheme, 41 lakh farmers had gotten themselves registered on the PM Kisan portal. The Centre has also asked the state to upload verified data of the eligible beneficiaries of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi on the portal.
The state government has been also asked to fast-track the process of collating and updating the Centre on the list of beneficiaries under the scheme in which Rs 6,000 is annually sent to accounts of farmers.
According to a source, the state government was reminded that just days ahead of the assembly elections, a state nodal officer was appointed to give details of farmers to the Centre but due to the Model Code of Conduct the process had to be stopped.
The communication sent to the state also states that the Bengal government is yet to give its approval for auto-debit in order to transfer money directly into the accounts of beneficiaries.
Sources added that West Bengal is the only state that is not a beneficiary of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi and 10.28 crore farmers across the country have been disbursed around Rs 1.16 lakh crore till now. (With ANI inputs)