West Bengal: Up to Rs 60,000 deposited in farmers' bank accounts in Howrah, Burdwan district by unknown source

Money worth Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 were suddenly credited to the Jan Dhan accounts of more than 600 villagers of Ketugram and Ashuhgram block in Burdwan East district.

Villagers started to think that PM Modi’s 2014 poll promise to give Rs 15 lakh to every Indian is being fulfilled. (Image: PTI)

Burdwan/ Howrah: In a rare and amusing incident, money worth Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 were suddenly credited to the Jan Dhan accounts of more than 600 villagers of Ketugram and Ashuhgram block in Burdwan East district in West Bengal. Unaware of the source of this money, villagers started to think that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 poll promise to give Rs 15 lakh to every Indian is being fulfilled. However, later the district agricultural official clarified this sudden source of money saying it has been sanctioned in the agricultural insurance scheme. The official also informed that more than seven thousand people will be benefitted from this scheme which covers at least thirteen blocks of Burdwan East district. In a similar incident in Howrah district in West Bengal, money worth Rs 10,000 and Rs 60,000 were credited to as many as eighty to ninety people who were also not aware of the source of this money. According to reports, the incident took place on December 23, 2018. However, later the BDO of Jaipur block and other state government officials claimed that this is the money which was sanctioned in the scheme of agricultural insurance sector some two to three years ago at the time of flood over the locality. In a similar incident reported earlier this month, some farmers of the Beed district of Maharashtra received a credit of Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 in their bank accounts and there was no clarity over the source of this money too. According to ABP Majha, the amount of Rs 500, Rs 1,000 or Rs 2,000 were deposited in the bank accounts of some of the farmers hailing from Beed district's Daskhed village in Patoda taluka. As per the report, around 200 to 250 farmers received the money from this unexplained source. Soon after the news of money credit came to light, farmers initially thought the money was credited as part of any government scheme or a part of crop insurance. However, it was later found out that those who had no farmlands had also got the money in their accounts.