In what has become the grim development from the state of Tamil Nadu, the government has shocked to come to the revelation that its own's machinery had hosted the biggest and unprecedented scam in the channel that benefits the small-scale farmers. 

The Prime Minister's Kisan Yojna is the channel where small farmers with two hectares or less land are given Rs 6,000 per year as financial assistance. However, the channel that ensures the small but necessary contribution to the farmers had recently witnessed the intrusion of the appalling elements after thousands of people in Tamil Nadu had availed the cash assistance by disclosing false and bogus information. 

The illegal assistance under the guise of farmers had emerged as the never witnessed scandal in the state in this arena through stealing the credentials of the government officials for approving the cash assistance for ineligible people with fake information. According to the reports, the scam was initially found in the Cuddalore district where over 80,700 people were added in the list of beneficiaries list from April. 

The district administration had recently found that except 3,500 in the list of 80,000, the rest are applied with bogus information and though not having eligibility to receive the grant under the scheme, these many people in the district have been receiving the cash assistance. Upon investigating, it further came to the revelation that more than 40,000 people from other districts were also on the list. Following the development, the government has on September 1 handed over the probe to the CBCID. 

The branches of the scam had stretched in some of the districts of the state exhuming the racket of what has become an embarrassment to the state government. Charging the government, DMK President MK Stalin has said that the scam has accounted for several crores and stated that around 10,700 fake farmers in the Chief Minister's home district Salem had availed Rs 4 crore under the scheme. 

Speaking about the scam, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami asserted that action is being taken against those responsible who are involved in the scandal of availing the fund through the PM Kishan scheme with fake information. Following his assertion, the reports say that around 80 officials were found guilty and they were dismissed from service after the inquiry. 

As the scam has been emerging the grim developments, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Production Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Government Gagandeep Singh Bedi IAS had revealed that as much as 110 crore rupees have been decepted under the scam. Bedi has put out the fact while he was addressing the reporters on Tuesday concerning the scandal. 

He said that Rs 6,000 under the scheme would be disbursed in three installments and the eligible farmers can register their names directly in the portal and the officials of the Tamil Nadu Revenue and Agriculture Department would be approving the assistance to the eligible farmers after carrying out scrutiny and inspection. The bureaucrat has further said some of the miscreants had stolen the official passwords used by the authorities for approval and they had given their approvals for the fake entries. Some of the private computer centers and intermediaries had involved in the scam. 

The reports say that the branches of the scam have spread in 13 districts including Cuddalore, Vellore, Salem, Kallakurichi, Villupuram, Ranipettai, Dharmapuri, Trichy, and Krishnagiri. Bedi further added that ten inquiry committees have been probing the matter and 18 people have been arrested so far and 80 people have been found guilty and dismissed whereas 33 others are nearing to face disciplinary actions. The bank accounts of people who received cash assistance through bogus entries are frozen and around 32 crore rupees have been withdrawn from their accounts. The state of Tamil Nadu has 28 lakh beneficiaries in total under the scheme and the state BJP leaders have urged the government to set up the judicial inquiry into the scam.