Tamil Nadu government had taken steps to address State-wide irregularities in disbursal of funds under PM Kisan scheme, said Bharatiya Janata Party State president L. Murugan.
Speaking at a press meet here on Monday, he said the State government had suspended officers, sealed computer centres where irregularities took place and recovered some of the funds. “The government has made some moves towards addressing the issue and we are hoping for continued cooperation. Currently, 41 lakh farmers in the State have benefited under the scheme and we are hoping to cover more deserving farmers,” he said.
Explaining the passing of the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday through voice vote, Mr. Murugan said it would be beneficial to farmers.
Middlemen could no longer be able to fix prices which will not be highly volatile. The State government introduced Farmers’ Market years ago so that farmers could directly gain from the sales of their goods. “This move by the Centre would create a global marketplace and promote sales online, thus opening the doors for farmers to sell across the country by themselves. It will be highly beneficial to the public also as the process would be transparent,” he said regarding the Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill.
Farmers could also directly tie up with corporate companies to engage in areas such as food processing and cold storage. “Opposition parties say these bills will affect small-scale farmers. It is not true. The platform for competition will be levelled. In case corporate companies determine prices unfairly, a board with a high representation of farmers will intervene,” he said.
