Union Minister urges Bengal govt not to 'deprive' farmers of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar said on Monday that he would once again request the West Bengal government to allow farmers of the state to benefit from the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi.

The ambitious scheme launched by the Modi government provides beneficiary to farmers amounting to Rs 6,000 annually in three equal instalments.

Addressing the media on the first anniversary of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, Tomar said farmers of all States and Union Territories are benefitting from the scheme, except the farmers of West Bengal, as the State government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is not willing to implement the scheme in the state. 

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The scheme aims to benefit 14 crore farmers

Narendra Singh Tomar stated that till date, over eight crore farmers have benefitted from the scheme while the Central government aims to bring 14 crore farmers under this scheme.

The Union Minister said he had written letters to the West Bengal government several times requesting it to allow the farmers to receive benefits under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.

Several thousand farmers in West Bengal have already registered themselves on the PM Kisan portal and if the state government allows implementing scheme the total beneficiaries would be around 70 lakh, Tomar added.

READ | Farmers Of Bengal Should Get Benefits Of PM-KISAN Scheme: Guv Dhankhar

Bengal governor says farmers should get benefits of PM-KISAN

Earlier in the month of February, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said farmers of the state are being deprived of the benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme while others across the country are enjoying its advantages. The Mamata Banerjee government has not implemented the PM-KISAN scheme and it has its own schemes for farmers.

He requested the state government to send details of farmers of West Bengal to the central government so that they can start getting their share to their bank accounts, as per norms of the scheme. Under the PM-KISAN scheme, annual income support of Rs 6,000 is provided to all farmer families across the country in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each every four months.

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READ | Centre Appeals WB Govt To Join PM-Kisan Scheme