GUWAHATI, May 14 - The Assam agriculture department is aiming to carry out 100 per cent reverification of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme�s beneficiaries in the State.
Revealing this, Agriculture Minister Atul Bora today said Assam will be the first state of the country to do hundred per cent beneficiary reverification for the specific scheme.
The reverification of beneficiaries for the scheme was started in the State from November last year as per direction of the Union government. Initially the Union government had directed to carry out five per cent reverification of the total beneficiaries in each State, but later Assam has decided to cover 100 per cent beneficiaries under the drive.
The statement of the minister came after a section of the local media had widely reported the anomalies that took place during the beneficiary selection process for the scheme in different parts of Assam.
Bora said the department has set a deadline of May 15 to complete the reverification process. But some districts are seeking extension of the deadline.
�The PM-KISAN is a scheme with hundred per cent funding from the Union government, which aims to provide an income support of Rs 6,000 per year to all farmer families across the country in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each in every four months,� he told the media.
Accepting that some anomalies might have taken place in the beneficiary selection process, the minister asserted that the entire process was undertaken following the guidelines of the Central government.
A section of the local media reported that a large number of names, including family members of government officials and political leaders, were accommodated in the beneficiary list.
As part of the reverification drive, the department has already eliminated more than seven lakh names from the list of beneficiary and two officials each in Barpeta and Morigaon districts have been suspended.
Bora, who also holds the veterinary portfolio, further informed that direction has been made to all the officials concerned to carry out verification on the mortality rate of pigs caused due to the outbreak of African swine fever.
He said the number of pig death cases increased exponentially after the State government announced financial assistance to the affected piggery farmers. Till Wednesday, the disease has claimed as many as 14,919 pigs in the State.
In order to carry out mass testing for the disease, the government has also written to the Union government.
