PM-KISAN: Centre asks Odisha CM to provide list of farmers

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh Tuesday sought from the Odisha government, the list of the state's 32 lakh farmers, eligible for benefits under the Centre's PM-KISAN scheme.

Hitting out at chief minister Naveen Patnaik for the delay in furnishing of the data, Singh said at least 12 lakh farmers from the state will be benefitted under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.

However, the state government has provided a list of only eight lakh farmers and there is no information about the rest, Singh said here after inaugurating a Kisan Mela and several research facilities at the National Rice Research Institute.

If the bank details of the farmers are not shared with the Centre, how can they benefit, Singh rued.

Therefore, the state government should share the complete data with the centre to ensure that the farmers are not deprived of the benefits, he said.

Shedding its initial hesitation, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government had on February 21 decided to be part of the PM-KISAN scheme and extended support for its implementation in the state.

Taking a dig at the state government, the agriculture minister said that it did little for the farming community of Odisha and can not hoodwink it any longer.

Stating that the BJP-led government at the centre was committed to the welfare of the farmers, Singh said all measures have been taken to double farmers' income by 2022.

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who joined the programme as a guest of honour, also came down heavily on the Naveen Patnaik government alleging that landless farmers and share croppers in the state were deprived of several welfare schemes run for them by the Centre.

As the state government has not been able to prepare the list of landless and share croppers till date, lakhs of such poor people of Odisha are deprived of cash-transfer benefits under NREGS and other welfare schemes, Pradhan said.

At least 3000 farmers from various parts of the country attended the Kisan Mela here, which was also attended among others by ICAR DG Dr Trilochan Mohapatra.

On the occasion, the Union ministers dedicated to the people, a refurbished Cuttack Railway Station, boasting of more passenger facilities.

They also announced the additional stoppage of Visakhapatnam-Amritsar- Visakhapatnam Hirakud Express and Puri-Ajmer-Puri Express at Naraj Marthapur Railway Station on the occasion.

A Rs 10 cr redevelopment project for the Cuttack Railway Station was approved by the Ministry of Railways to provide the passengers a "feel good factor" and a memorable experience.