Guwahati, Sept 4: A performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has exposed widespread irregularities in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in Assam, including ineligible beneficiaries, fake registrations, and lack of monitoring.

Key findings of the audit include:

– 35% of applicants found ineligible, with only 0.24% of wrongly disbursed funds recovered

– 37% of beneficiaries declared ineligible by the state government, with minimal funds recovered

– Fake registration numbers and multiple registrations using the same bank account

– Funds released to beneficiaries with jumbled names or special characters

– No database of landholding farmer families maintained to identify potential beneficiaries

– Lack of monitoring and non-adherence to guidelines at various stages of implementation

The state government has accepted the audit’s findings and is conducting a 100% re-verification of beneficiaries since June 2021. The CAG report’s revelations raise concerns about the scheme’s effectiveness in Assam and the need for urgent corrective measures.