Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has sought a comprehensive audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General, CAG, on the farm debt waiver scheme. He denied any misappropriation of funds in the scheme.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi today, he said, the CAG has audited only 90,576 accounts, while the total number of beneficiaries stood at 3.7 crore under the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme.

Mr Pawar said, the sample size taken by the auditing body to audit the scheme was very small and its scope should be expanded. He said, the issue should be discussed when significant number of accounts are audited to get a better result.

Mr. Pawar, however, did not rule out the possibility of exclusion of eligible farmers and inclusion of non-eligible farmers by banks.

Earlier, addressing a Kharif conference, Pawar asked the Central and state officials to formulate comprehensive strategies and plans for accelerating and sustaining momentum of agriculture growth during the ensuing kharif season.

He said, agriculture and allied sectors have to perform well this year if the Indian economy has to rebound to touch the overall GDP growth target of 8 per cent during the 12th plan.

Expressing concern over declining water availability for agriculture, he asked the States to give thrust on water management and ensure that Livestock Mission makes visible impact during the current plan to provide supplementary income to farmers.