Even after the central government summarily rejected West Bengal government’s proposal of routing the payments under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme through the state government and not directly through the direct benefit transfer(DBT), CM Mamata Banerjee has again written a letter to the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar requesting a transfer of funds under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to her government and not to the farmers.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee writes to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar requesting a transfer of funds under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. pic.twitter.com/IIrm74nG5C
— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2020
In the letter, Mamata Banerjee alleges that the West Bengal government still awaits the disbursement of funds to the state government for the onward transfer of the payments to the farmers of the state.
The West Bengal CM has also enclosed a copy of a letter dated 9 September 2020 to allege that her government had not received the funds from the central government even after demanding for the same earlier in September. The letter also mentions that the state government is already implementing a scheme of direct benefit transfer to the farmers, including sharecroppers with death benefit transfer.
“I once again request you to kindly arrange to transfer the requisite fund to the State Government, for onward disbursement “with full responsibility” to the farmer-beneficiaries of the state through State Government machinery. After disbursement, a list of beneficiaries will be sent to you for your information,” the letter read.
Interestingly, the letter was issued by Mamata Banerjee today, i.e December 21, but it bears the date of 22 December 2020.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah slams Mamata Banerjee for non-implementation of PM Kisan scheme
The letter from Mamata Banerjee comes a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah took a swipe at the West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for not allowing the farmers of the state avail the benefits under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.
“23 lakh farmers from Bengal have requested online for PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi. Mamata di still prevents them by not giving them actual certification! She is not even sending a list of farmers to the Central govt,” Shah said.
23 lakh farmers from Bengal have requested online for PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi. Mamata di still prevents them by not giving them actual certification!
— BJP (@BJP4India) December 20, 2020
She is not even sending a list of farmers to the Central govt.
– Shri @AmitShah #BengalWithBJP pic.twitter.com/ORxgqDtcGs
Centre rejects Banerjee’s demand for routing the funds allocated under the scheme through the state government
West Bengal remains the only state which has not implemented this scheme that provides an annual support amount of Rs 6,000 to farmers in three equal instalments.
In September 2020, Mamata Banerjee had written a letter to the Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, asking him to disburse the amount meant for farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to the West Bengal government. The Centre had then rejected Mamata Banerjee’s demand of routing the money to the state government, categorically stating that the scheme is based on direct benefit transfer to farmers’ account and “routing money through the state government would be against the spirit of the scheme”.
“We are ready to pay farmers of West Bengal if the state government identifies and sends us the verified list of beneficiaries. This is a 100% central sponsored scheme and we can’t give money to the state government to distribute on its own,” an official privy to the matter had said then.
