The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has uncovered serious irregularities in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Assam.
A recent performance audit revealed substantial fund mismanagement, highlighting that 35 per cent of the applicants in the state were 'ineligible' beneficiaries, with only 0.24 per cent of the misallocated funds recovered.
The audit, which covered the period from December 2018 to March 2021, disclosed that out of 41,87,023 applications received under the scheme, 10,66,593 (25 per cent) were rejected by the PM-KISAN portal and the Public Financial Management System.
Furthermore, an inquiry conducted by the Assam government from May to July 2020 found that 11,72,685 (37 per cent) out of 31,20,430 approved beneficiaries were ineligible.
However, as of October 2021, only a fraction of the funds disbursed to these ineligible recipients had been recovered.
The report, tabled in the Assam Assembly, identified multiple discrepancies, including 15,59,286 ineligible beneficiaries.
These ineligible recipients included non-farmers, government employees, pensioners, and duplicate entries.
Alarmingly, 11,31,152 (72.54 per cent) of these ineligible names were untraceable, raising questions about the monitoring and verification process.
The state government responded by stating that the figures are dynamic due to ongoing verification processes.
However, the CAG audit pointed to a significant lack of monitoring and adherence to guidelines across the state's implementation of the scheme.
The audit, conducted in 10 districts, included Barpeta, which had the highest number of ineligible beneficiaries.
Examining 990 records from 22 blocks in 11 districts, the audit found that Assam had not maintained a proper database of landholding farmer families. Instead, the state government prioritised rapid data entry over ensuring the eligibility of beneficiaries.
Supervisory officers' lack of oversight further compounded these issues.
One of the audit’s most concerning findings was the creation of fake registration numbers by adding zeros to existing bank account numbers, allowing multiple benefits to be credited to the same account.
In 16 out of 33 districts, 3,577 such registrations were identified, resulting in Rs 3.01 crore being disbursed improperly.
Additionally, multiple registrations under the same bank account were found for 3,104 beneficiaries in 10 districts, although no benefits were released to them.
Further complicating matters, funds were released to beneficiaries with jumbled names or special characters in their records.
Of Rs 2.18 crore allocated for administrative expenses, only Rs 77 lakh was accounted for with a utilisation certificate submitted to the Government of India by October 2021.
The Assam government accepted the audit findings and stated in February 2022 that a 100 per cent re-verification had been undertaken since June 2021 under the supervision of revenue officials, deputy commissioners, and the Principal Secretary of the Sixth Schedule areas.
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