PM Modi’s Kisan Yojana another jumla; Govt credits ₹2000 into accounts, debits it back in minutes

On February 24, during a public rally at the Fertiliser Ground at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressed the digital button it was claimed that the first installment of ₹2,000 was credited in the accounts of 1.1 crore farmers under the Prime Minister's Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana.

But now reports are emerging from all over the state that the credited ₹2,000 was being debited back from the accounts of farmers. The momentary happiness has turned out to be another jumla by the government. Farmers who have been registering their complaints with the bank have been told that neither was any money sent nor has it been withdrawn.

It was claimed that most farmers from the state have benefited from the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana.

But, that’s not all. There are reports of corruption emerging from most of these districts. In Gonda, the District Magistrate had to take action against dozens of book keepers after complaints that they were demanding ₹500 from the farmers. The record keepers were allegedly stating that since the farmers were getting ₹2,000 for free, they should not have a problem paying ₹500 to a record keeper.

In Jaunpur district, the first installment ₹2,000 was deposited in the account of nearly 60,000 farmers through DBT, but the money was deducted from the accounts of several farmers on February 24 itself, while from a few other accounts, it was deducted only after 24 hours.

Ramashankar Sharma, a resident of Baripar, has less than 0.3 acre land. Along with this, he runs a barber shop. Ramashankar said there was a sigh of relief in the family as soon as they got the message ₹2000 being credited. When he went to his bank (Union Bank of India) on February 25 to update the passbook, he discovered that the credited amount was debited back in a few minutes.

When they tried to speak to the bank manager, he refused to meet them. Shamnath Pandey, who owns 1.5 acre land in Jaunpur district, too had the similar experience.

Shamnath says that through the Kisan Credit Card he has bought a tractor on loan. He buys fertiliser and seeds from the society and he is not a income tax payer. “Why was the first installment of ₹2,000 taken back. It is beyond understanding,” pointed out Shamnath and added that he had gone to the District Agricultural Officer office, but wasn’t given a satisfactory answer.

There are more than 6,55,000 farmers in Jaunpur who have less than two hectares of land. The revenue department employees have made prepared a list of 3.5 lakh farmers online after a survey. According to the officials of the agriculture department, more than 3,000 farmers in the district have reported that the amount has been withdrawn from their account.

SDM Uday Narayan says that there has been reports of amount being deducted from several account. There is no negligence from banks in this case. Money came directly through DBT and it was debited from many branches.

On February 24, in Deoria out of 4,76,000 farmers whose data was uploaded online, only 65,000 farmers received ₹2,000 in their accounts. No one knows if and when the rest of the farmers will get it.

Indravati Devi of Ramnagar village of Deoria says that the book keepers were demanding ₹500 for uploading their data online. Pankaj Dikshit resident of Gram Pandher of Gonda district had complained to the District Magistrate about the demand of bribe by the book keeper.

Inputs from Gorakhpur-based Purnima Shrivastav