West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee Again Calls On Centre Demanding Transfer Of PM-KISAN Funds To Her Govt

In a letter written by West Bengal (WB) Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee to the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, she has demanded that instead of transferring funds directly to the bank accounts of farmers of the State under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, Centre should transfer the sum to the State Government, reports Times of India.

CM Banerjee has asserted that the Centre's decision on transferring the requisite funds to the State Government is "still awaited", post which her Government will then undertake onward disbursement of the same sum to the farmers and share a list of beneficiaries with the Centre.

CM Banerjee has tried to justify the aforementioned push in her letter by making the case that her Government is already implementing a similar scheme of direct fund transfer to farmers which also covers the sharecroppers with a death benefit scheme.

It should be noted that in her previous such letter to Tomar dated 9 September, CM Banerjee had clearly stated that her Government would only implement PM-KISAN scheme in WB "if the funds are routed through the State Government." In her latest letter, she nudged Tomar to "kindly recall" the same.