Rs 1,364 crore went to 20.48 lakh ineligible beneficiaries under PM-Kisan till July, shows RTI reply
Union agriculture ministry’s data said these beneficiaries belonged to the ‘income tax payee’ and ‘ineligible farmers’ categories. Jan 11, 2021 · 08:43 pm A farmer harvests potatoes at a field at Arial village near Allahabad on March 12, 2013. | Sanjay Kanojia/AFP
The Union government has paid Rs 1,364 crore to 20.48 lakh ineligible beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, or PM-KISAN scheme till July 2020, PTI reported on Monday, quoting the Union agriculture ministry’s reply to a Right to Information query.
“More than half [55.58%] of these undeserving persons belong to the ‘income tax payee’ category”, Venkatesh Nayak of non-government organisation Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, who filed the RTI application, told the news agency. The rest were from the “ineligible farmers” category. However, in terms