According to people familiar with the development, the government is using data analytics and artificial intelligence to identify ineligible farmers who pay income tax but also receive 6,000 in annual financial assistance under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi and is asking them to return the sum received since December 2018, when the welfare scheme began.
The scheme is intended for poor and marginal farmers, and it does not apply to cultivators who pay income tax. Physical verifications, as well as technology-driven exercises at various levels, have been conducted to remove ineligible beneficiaries from the list, and appropriate actions are being taken, according to at least four people who requested anonymity.
According to one source, ineligible farmers have received recovery notices. HT examined copies of notices sent to at least a dozen beneficiaries in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district.
Income-tax payers are not eligible for the farmer’s scheme, the notice stated in Hindi, but despite filing income-tax, you have concealed the fact to avail of the benefit. According to the statement, the government of India has halted the release of the next installment to the concerned individual and directed him to refund the money already given to him.
PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, which is fully funded by the central government, went live on December 1, 2018. All landholding farmer families are eligible for a 6,000-per-year income supplement paid in three equal installments under the welfare scheme. It is the responsibility of state governments to identify eligible households. Each installment is deposited into the beneficiaries’ bank accounts. The scheme has several exclusion categories.
Recovery notices have been issued to cultivators who pay goods and services tax (GST) on farm-related commercial activities like floriculture on a small plot of land, according to one farmer from the Meerut district who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
It’s a little perplexing because we never applied for the scheme,” said the cultivator. “As part of a routine procedure, we provided information to the administration, and the money began to come automatically.
The Union Finance and Agriculture Ministries, as well as the Uttar Pradesh government, did not respond to inquiries about the matter.
According to one of the government officials cited earlier, the government completed random verifications of approximately 6.45 million beneficiaries in 2021-22 and discovered that less than 5% of them were ineligible.
Although the magnitude is not huge, the government is using data from Aadhaar, income tax, mobile numbers, pension records, and other sources to remove ineligible people from the list of beneficiaries, he explained. Some people appear to have joined the scheme despite being ineligible because farmer eligibility was initially based on self-declaration, he added.
While there may be some unscrupulous individuals, honest mistakes in joining the scheme cannot be ruled out, according to the official.
Nonetheless, the total amount of money paid to ineligible recipients is not insignificant.
It has been reported that an amount of more than 4,352.49 crore, which is 2% of the total amount transferred to all beneficiaries, has been transferred to ineligible beneficiaries, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in response to a question in the Lok Sabha on March 22.
As of February 8, over 11.78 crore beneficiaries had received 1.82 lakh crore in direct financial benefit from the scheme, according to official data.
An SOP (standard operating procedure) has been developed and distributed to states for obtaining refunds from ineligible beneficiaries and returning funds to the government, Tomar stated in Parliament.
The government has set up an online system for ineligible farmers to get their money back. So far, the government has recovered 296.67 crores.
