GUWAHATI: The Gauhati high court has asked the Assam government to act against those officials, who allegedly were involved in irregularities in distributing benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme.
The Assam government has been asked by the Gauhati high court to take “appropriate action” against those officials, who allegedly were involved in the PM-Kisan ‘scam’.
Earlier, the Assam government had informed the Gauhati high court that around 12 lakh ineligible farmers received benefits under the PM-Kisan scheme.
The Gauhati high court gave this directive to the Assam government while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by NGO Amguri Naba Nirman Samity.
A division bench of the Gauhati high court in Assam comprising chief justice RM Chhaya and justice Soumitra Saikia heard the PIL.
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“The state government shall strictly adhere to the guidelines for providing the benefit to appropriate beneficiaries. The respondent authority shall implement the scheme in letter and spirit and in accordance with law,” the Gauhati high court said in its order.
The Gauhati high court also instructed the Assam government to take into consideration the one-man enquiry report, which was prepared by the then chief secretary Jishnu Barua in 2020.
“It is also brought on record that 16 district agriculture officers and 98 agricultural development officers have been subjected to departmental enquiry,” the Gauhati high court noted.
On August 4 last year, Assam agriculture minister Atul Bora had informed the assembly that a total of 23,33,864 farmers across the state received benefits under the PM-Kisan scheme.