Guwahati: An audit conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed a shocking scale of fraud in Assam’s implementation of the PM-KISAN scheme, with Rs 567 crore claimed by ineligible beneficiaries.
Despite the vast scale of the fraud, efforts to recover the misallocated funds have been negligible, with only 0.24% of the funds retrieved, exposing severe flaws in monitoring, data management, and eligibility verification processes.
The PM-KISAN scheme, a flagship initiative by the central government aimed at providing financial assistance to farmers, has faced significant implementation issues in Assam. According to the CAG’s audit, 35% of the beneficiaries were found to be ineligible, yet the recovery of misappropriated funds has barely made a dent in the total losses.
The audit, which covered the period from December 2018 to March 2021, assessed the scheme’s performance and flagged systemic fraud. Of the 41,87,023 applications received during this period, 10,66,593 (around 25%) were rejected for failing to meet eligibility criteria. However, an internal government investigation conducted in mid-2020 found that 37% of the approved beneficiaries—around 11.5 lakh people—did not meet the requirements, yet they still received funds.
Despite identifying these ineligible recipients, recovery efforts have been minimal. As of October 2021, the state had only reclaimed 0.24% of the misappropriated funds, and none of these funds had been returned to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The state’s lax enforcement and failure to act swiftly in recovering the funds have raised serious concerns over accountability and governance.
The audit further revealed several other serious issues with the scheme’s administration. A verification process ordered by the Chief Minister’s office, prompted by public complaints, discovered 15,59,286 ineligible beneficiaries in the state’s database. This figure far exceeded the initial report by the State Nodal Officer (SNO), highlighting severe flaws in data management practices.
Alarmingly, a large portion of these ineligible beneficiaries—over 11 lakh people—could not be located, with the audit attributing this to inadequate verification procedures and poor efforts to confirm applicant identities before including them in the scheme. The CAG report also highlighted fraudulent bank account registrations and duplicate entries, which facilitated unauthorized payments.
In 16 districts, 3,577 fake registrations were found, amounting to Rs 3.01 crore in unauthorized disbursements. Additionally, in 10 districts, over 3,000 instances of multiple registrations using the same bank account were flagged. These fraudulent activities were facilitated by the manipulation of bank account numbers and the use of fake or jumbled names, making it harder for authorities to detect the irregularities.
The CAG’s report also raised concerns about the SNO’s management of administrative expenses. Out of the Rs 2.18 crore allocated for administrative expenses, only Rs 77 lakh was accounted for, with the remaining funds unsubstantiated.
The audit pointed to a lack of monitoring, weak cooperation from the Directorate of Agriculture in sharing records, and poor oversight by supervisory officers. It noted that the speed at which beneficiary data was uploaded was prioritized over proper eligibility checks, ultimately undermining the scheme’s effectiveness.
In response to the audit’s findings, the Assam government announced a re-verification process in February 2022, overseen by district commissioners. The government aims to ensure that only eligible beneficiaries receive the benefits in the future and has implemented safeguards to prevent further fraud.
The CAG’s findings underscore the need for rigorous monitoring, robust verification processes, and strong oversight to prevent misuse of welfare funds. As the state government works to address these issues, transparency and accountability will be crucial in restoring public trust and ensuring that the PM-KISAN scheme truly benefits those it was intended to help—small and marginal farmers.
The large-scale fraud in Assam serves as a stark reminder of the importance of stringent checks and balances in the implementation of government welfare programs, especially those aimed at supporting vulnerable populations. As the government moves forward with reforms, it will need to strengthen its systems and enforce more stringent safeguards to protect the integrity of such initiatives.
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