West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday said farmers have been denied the direct benefit of Rs 8,400 under the PM-Kisan scheme due to the state government’s ”confrontational stance”. Each farmer in the state has been denied the benefit of Rs 12,000 due to the administration’s refusal to implement the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, he said.

”Confrontation stance @MamataOfficial — governance disaster — Farmers in State already lost direct benefit of Rs 8,400 crores. Each farmer denied direct benefit of Rs 12,000,” he tweeted. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had in September written to the Union agriculture minister saying that the PM- Kisan scheme will be implemented in West Bengal if the funds are routed through the state government.

Under the PM-Kisan scheme, launched in December 2018, the central government provides Rs 6,000 annually to farmers in three equal installments. Dhankhar had earlier criticised the Trinamool Congress government for its refusal to implement the scheme, holding that 70 lakh farmers in the state have been deprived of the benefits introduced by the Centre.