West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday told the Assembly that her administration has sent the names of 2.5 lakh farmers to the Centre for availing the benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, reported PTI.

The chief minister’s comments came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that farmers in the state were deprived of benefits under the scheme.

Banerjee asked why the Centre had not disbursed any cash benefit to the beneficiaries yet. She told the House that the state government had received a list of six lakh applicants for verification, of which 2.5 lakh names were sent to the Centre for the financial aid.

The chief minister was replying to queries raised by members of the House during a discussion on vote-on-account, which she had presented in the Assembly on February 5. A vote-on-account is a special provision under which the government obtains the House’s approval for funds sufficient to incur expenditure for a part of the year, thus enabling it to spend for a brief period, or until a full Budget is passed.

Banerjee had presented a vote-on-account for Rs 2.99 lakh crore in the Assembly and made several announcements, including an increase in the annual financial aid to farmers. She also increased the yearly financial aid, under her administration’s “Krishak Bandhu” scheme, to Rs 6,000 from existing Rs 5,000.

Banerjee said that her administration would float 19 industrial projects in West Bengal, involving an investment of Rs 72,200 crore. This would employ 3.29 lakh people, she added.

The West Bengal chief minister said that benefits of the PM Kisan scheme should be available to the sharecroppers along with the state’s support to all farmers, irrespective of their landholdings. Under the scheme, Rs 6,000 per year in three equal installments is given to small and marginal farmer families with a combined landholding of up to two hectares.

On Sunday, the prime minister had attacked the ruling Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, saying the party had given rebirth to the Left rule of corruption and lawlessness. The prime minister said that the people wanted Banerjee to bring changes in the state, but instead she paved the way for “corrupt politicians to set up shop once more”.

This was the prime minister’s second visit to the state within two weeks ahead of the Assembly elections. During his first visit, on the occasion of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary, Banerjee had refused to speak at the event as “Jai Shri Ram” slogans were chanted when she rose to address the gathering.


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