A source in the Union Agriculture Ministry informed Indian Express that decks have been cleared for disbursal of money directly into the bank accounts of West Bengal farmers under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi yojana.
PM Kisan beneficiaries in West Bengal are likely to get the first installment of Rs 2,000 in their bank accounts on 14th May.
The source further told that “The West Bengal government has given its approval to automatic debit for directly transferring the fund into bank accounts of PM-Kisan beneficiaries”.
It is said that Mamata Banerjee government approved automatic debit on 4th May, a day after Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar wrote to Chief Minister, asking her to direct state officials to facilitate it at the earliest since eligible farmers in the state were deprived of the benefits under the scheme.
On 6 May, Mamata told media that all measures have been taken and she has written to PM Modi, requesting him to advise the Agriculture Ministry to release the money to the farmers in the state.
Sources also said that the nodal officer of PM-Kisan yojana in West Bengal gave a letter of authority to the manager of SBI on 4th May to authorise the bank to auto debit the money from the scheme’s nodal account & transfer it to the beneficiaries’ accounts.
As many as 7.55 lakh farmers in the state are likely to get their 1st installment of PM-Kisan for the period April-July next week when the Central government is set to release the 8th installment to over 9 crore beneficiaries across India, sources said.
About 41 lakh of the 69 lakh estimated farmers of West Bengal have enrolled themselves on the PM-Kisan website so far. Of them, around 14 lakh cultivators have been verified by the state nodal officer. Out of these 14 lakh, details of 7.55 lakh farmers have been confirmed on the PFMS, making them eligible for payment in the first round, according to the source.
