CUDDALORE: A day after a scam in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme came to light, Cuddalore district officials on Thursday weeded out 38,000 fake beneficiary accounts.
The scheme was implemented for farmers, wherein Rs 6,000 each will be credited to their bank accounts every four months. In Cuddalore district, as per official sources, there are about 1.79 lakh beneficiaries availing the benefit.
However, it was noted that in the past few months, the number of beneficiaries spiked, causing suspicion. Speaking to Express, an official with the District Agriculture Department said, “In addition to the 1.79 lakh beneficiaries, close to 78,000 new enrolments were made recently, of which around 38,000 accounts were fake.” “It was also noted that a slew of such accounts were added, mostly between July 15 to 31,” he said.
Sources also point out that the scam could have been possible due to the shifting of the approval body.
Meanwhile, the scheme in Cuddalore has been temporarily disabled, and a joint committee, including officials from agriculture, horticulture and revenue departments, has been instructed to conduct a thorough survey on the enrolments done since April. The committee has also been asked to disable fake accounts, said sources.