(a) whether it is a fact that over Rs 2500 crores of PM-KISAN Scheme funds were transferred to ineligible beneficiaries;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) whether Aadhaar-linking was made mandatory for the scheme to remove ineligible beneficiaries from the system; and
(d) if so, the reason why Aadhaar linkage failed to stop such leakage of funds to ineligible beneficiaries?
MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
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(a) & (b): Eligibility of farmers was initially based on their self-declaration and after verification of their details by State/UTs. Also only essential fieldswere made mandatory for registration. Soon after successful initiation of transfer of benefits to farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer(DBT) System, rigorous checks and balances were added using technology and by developing Standard Operating Procedures(SOPs), Modules, validation by other systems (UIDAI, Income Tax) and by making other fields mandatory viz. Aadhaar, Mobile No., Land details, etc. Further, integration with Pensioners & Employee Record has also been enabled.
An amount of more than Rs. 4352.49 Crore which is 2% of the total amount transferred to all the beneficiaries has been reported to have been transferred to ineligible beneficiaries. An SOP has been devised and circulated to States for getting refund from ineligible beneficiaries and return of funds to Government. Besides, a facility has been created on the web-portal through which any individual farmer can refund the money through NTRP system. So far, an amount of Rs. 296.67 Crore has been recovered from ineligible beneficiaries.
(c)& (d) Aadhaar authentication was made mandatory in PM-KISAN w.e.f. 01.12.2019 with an exemption to the States of Assam, Meghalaya, and J&K. The funds are released under PM-KISAN based on the data received from the States/UTs which goes through many levels of validation including Aadhaar authentication. The purpose of making the Aadhaar authentication mandatory in PM-KISAN was to strengthen and further refine the database of the Scheme by introducing another level of validation. Aadhaar authentication, though increases the probability of the beneficiary being eligible, it does not guarantee it as there are other reasons such as the exclusion criteria of the Scheme which can render a beneficiary ineligible despite being Aadhaar authenticated.
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