Funds for 60,000 farmers under farm loan waiver delayed on wrong linking of Aadhaar

Agriculture Sector | Technological advancements are reshaping Africa’s agricultural sector in helping to pioneer a new agro-business strategy. Automation is replacing many jobs traditionally done by farm labourers such as harvesting and crop sorting. (Image Source: )

The bank accounts of over 60,000 farmers were linked to wrong Aadhaar numbers which resulted in a delay in the release of funds to farmers in phase one under the Maharashtra farm loan waiver scheme, reported DNA.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that around one lakh bank accounts had same Aadhar numbers, therefore, a new list of beneficiaries of the farm loan waiver scheme was prepared, which has been sent to banks who have been authorised to release funds immediately.

"However, we realised that around one lakh bank accounts had same Aadhar numbers. So the data had to be cleaned. But a new list has been released and we have deposited Rs 4,000 crore in the central account of ICICI Bank and they have been authorised to release the funds immediately," Fadnavis said.

In the first phase, Rs 4,000 crore is to be credited into 8.5 lakh bank accounts under farm loan waiver scheme by November 15, however, the process got delayed following the Aadhaar number discrepancy.

"We cannot transfer money into these accounts until the correct Aadhaar details are acquired," a government official told the paper.

In some cases, the officials also noted that several accounts were linked to the same Aadhaar number. However, the banks have iniated the process to sort out the issue so that there is no further dealy in phase one as well as phase two.

"Banks have been asked to sort this out at the earliest," said the official.

Also Read: Loan waiver: 100 farmers linked to single Aadhaar number

"When loans were disbursed, linking Aadhaar to accounts was not mandatory," a government official told the paper.

"But during loan waivers, banks were asked to fill a 66-column form for each loan beneficiary and the system wouldn't accept information unless Aadhaar details were punched in. We believe it was at this stage that discrepancies were introduced and random Aadhaar numbers were linked to the accounts."

Under the scheme, the loan waiver amount is to be credited to the loan accounts of the farmers and not given out in cash so that the loans are formally closed, said the report.

Thus, as soon as the data for farmers is sorted for the rest of them, the loan amount will be credited to their account.

"As soon as all the details in the system are found to be accurate, banks are expected to get the money within an hour. There is no shortage of funds," said the official.