PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Latest Update: Even as farmers in West Bengal received the first installment of funds under the PM-KISAN scheme on Friday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of dilly-dallying over the transfer of funds to beneficiaries in the state. In an open letter to farmers, Banerjee said the decision to extend the benefits of the scheme to eligible farmers in Bengal was a result of her government’s continuous fight.
“In 2018, the West Bengal government had started the Krishak Bandhu scheme that went on to become a model for the entire country. After this in 2019, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi was launched. Comparatively, the state’s programme is better because it offers more benefits to farmers. we are planning to add incentives to our scheme in the near future,” she said.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi released the eighth installment of over Rs 20,000 crore to more than 9.5 crore farmer beneficiaries across the country under the scheme via video- conferencing.
On May 6, Mamata had written a letter to PM Modi, urging him to call upon the Union agriculture ministry to release the funds to farmers of the state. “You all were supposed to get Rs 18,000, but have received a very small amount. Even this sum would not have been transferred had we not fought for it. We will continue this fight till you get the entire allocation,” the CM asserted.
The benefits under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme reached about 7.03 lakh farmers of West Bengal and each of them got Rs 2,000 under the programme launched more than two years ago.
Under the scheme, also known as PM-KISAN, a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year is provided to the eligible farmers, payable in three equal 4-monthly installments of Rs 2,000 each. The fund is transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. The scheme was launched in February 2019 but was implemented with effect from December 2018.
The scheme was not implemented till now in West Bengal as the state government and the Centre were at loggerheads over various issues, including verified data of farmers.
Under the 8th installment disbursed on Friday, a total of Rs 20,667 crore was transferred to more than 9.5 crore farmers across the country, including those from West Bengal.