K’taka CM blocking cash benefit transfer: PM Modi

Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attacked the JD(S)-Congress regime in Karnataka, saying it is led by a “remote controlled” Chief Minister (HD Kumaraswamy) with total disregard to farmer problems.

The Chief Minister, Modi said at a BJP rally in Kalaburgi (Gulbarga) in Karnataka, was not sharing the names and other details of farmers eligible for cash benefits under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi yojana.

The scheme, announced in the Union Budget in February, provides for cash benefits of Rs 6000 to each eligible farmer. The money is credited to farmers’ accounts every quarter under the scheme.


“They are blocking the benefits of PM-KISAN to reach the farmers as there is no middlemen in our scheme and money directly reaches the farmers in their bank accounts,” the Prime Minister said. He also took a dig at the Chief Minister, and said his programme of waiver of farm loans was yet to reach farmers.

Modi chose Kalaburgi (Gulbarga), the constituency of Mallikarjuna Kharge, the Congress floor leader in the Lok Sabha, for Wednesday’s political campaign. Without naming Kharge, he said the district had been ignored, and the State Government has paid little attention to the region.

Kalaburgi district in charge minister Priyank Kharge, son of Mallakarjun Kharge, described the PM’s rally as damp squib. “The most disappointed people will be the new entrants of BJP as they had expected a lot.,” he tweeted. It is unclear if Kharge meant Dr.Umesh Jadhav, who has resigned as Congress MLA to join the BJP on Wednesday. He is likely to take on Kharge in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Kalaburgi seat.

PM DIVERTING NREGA FUNDS:
Chief minister HD Kumaraswamy told reporters that Karnataka was ready to share whatever information the Centre wants on farmers, but the Centre itself was bankrupt. It does not have funds to release against NREGA payments to labourers in Karnataka because it has diverted those funds to PM Kisan yojana. The Centre owes Rs 2000 crore under NREGA scheme to Karnataka, and the State Government was meeting NREGA payment commitments from own funds.