Gullible Tamil Nadu villagers gave bank and Aadhaar details to ‘scamsters’

Gullible Tamil Nadu villagers gave bank and Aadhaar details to ‘scamsters’

TNN | Sep 16, 2020, 04.58 AM IST

SALEM: In March this year, a group of villagers of Pethanaickenpalayam near Attur in Salem district were sitting around in the village square when two men approached them. They told the villagers a new government scheme would give them Rs 2,000 every four months. “We assumed they were government staff. They asked for our Aadhaar and some people’s bank account details,’’ said T Masilamani, a villager.

The two men photographed Aadhaar cards using their phones, collected bank account details and left. Six months later, 77 of 163 PM Kisan scheme beneficiaries from Pethanaickenpalayam have come under the scanner of government agencies as ‘ineligible beneficiaries’ of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM – Kisan) scheme. They have been informed by panchayat authorities to return the ₹2,000 they have received under the scheme.

Even two villagers who say they don’t have bank accounts have been asked to pay up.

Villagers without bank accounts also entangled

P Kuppusamy, 53, and S Rajendran, 58, told TOI they had submitted their Aadhaar details, hoping the state would consider their names too on compassionate grounds.

“We don’t even have bank accounts. But the panchayat officials are saying ₹2,000 was credited into our accounts and are asking us to return the money,’’ said Kuppusamy. TOI could not independently verify if they had bank accounts. The list of ineligible beneficiaries on the government website had several Kuppusamys and Rajendrans from Pethanaickenpalayam.

Collector S ARaman saidthe issue of villagers without bank accounts being added as beneficiaries has come to his notice. “That is exactly the problem we are tackling. The registrations were not verified properly and the Aadhaar details were not checked if they match with the bank accounts,’’ he said.

“Thisis notjustthecasewith this village, we are coming across several such cases in other places also.Athoroughscrutinyin underwaytoweedoutsuch names which do not match with the bank account details,’’ he told TOI.

People of the village now fear police action in the wake of arrests of several internet centre owners by CBCID sleuths across the state. “Our family members are very scared. We don’t even know the name of the scheme or that there were criteria for becoming a beneficiary,’’ said V Subramani, a villager from neighbouring Yethapur.

Out of the 77 ineligible beneficiaries identified in Pethanaickenpalayam, there are nonfarmers. Some are farmers, but the lands are in the names of other family members. In some cases, the families own more than two hectares each, rendering them ineligible to receive benefits under the scheme.

Agriculture officials in the region refused to comment citing the CBCID inquiry underway.