Subsidy diverted for 3 years: Farmer after glitch leaves two with same Aadhaar number

“The land is in my name, but the money is going into his bank account. How many offices can a farmer keep visiting?” asked 52-year-old Sunil Sampat Karmore of Gadgaon village in Chimur taluka. (Express photo)

According to Karmore, he received the first 10 instalments of the PM-KISAN scheme in his Vidarbha Konkan Gramin Bank account. But from the 11th instalment onwards in 2022, all PM-KISAN payments and other agriculture-related subsidies linked to his Aadhaar began getting credited to Devgade’s SBI account.

Karmore alleged that despite repeated representations to authorities, the error remains unresolved.

Documents shared with The Indian Express show that he first approached the Chandrapur Collector in November 2023 seeking a fresh Aadhaar number after discovering that another individual shared the same identity number. He later petitioned the local MLA, the Chimur tehsildar and the taluka agriculture officer, seeking restoration of the diverted subsidies and correction of his Aadhaar records. More recently, he also approached the Chimur police seeking action against Devgade and compensation for the financial losses he claims to have suffered.

“I realised something was wrong when the scheme payments stopped coming after 2022. I checked with the bank and later found that another person’s account was linked to my Aadhaar. Since then, I have been visiting banks and government offices, but nothing has changed,” Karmore said.

He claimed agriculture officials themselves were initially sceptical until he produced documentary evidence.

“All government payments related to my farmland, including PM-KISAN and crop subsidies, are going into his account. Now even the loan waiver announced by the government is likely to be processed the same way,” he alleged.

Karmore owns around 9.25 acres of farmland where he cultivates cotton and paddy. He said the Aadhaar duplication has affected more than farm subsidies.

“I don’t even have a functional bank account now. I had to get an LPG connection in my wife’s name because I couldn’t get one in mine. Even the OTPs for the old gas connection go to his mobile number because of the Aadhaar linkage,” he said.

He added that he had initially spoken to Devgade, who allegedly assured him he would return the money, but later stopped responding to his calls.

“Our annual farm income is barely enough to survive. One paddy harvest earned us only about Rs 10,000,” Karmore said.

Devgade, however, denied Karmore’s allegations.

“I have two bank accounts M one in Gadgaon and another in Nagpur. How is it possible that I will receive benefits meant for someone else? The officials processing these schemes also verify the beneficiary’s name,” he said.

He said both men became aware of the issue while linking their Aadhaar numbers to bank accounts.

“I repeatedly asked Sunil to accompany me to Mumbai to get the issue resolved, but he refused,” Devgade said.

When contacted, Chandrapur Collector Vasumana Pant said the administration had identified the case and referred it to MahaIT for technical examination.