Patna News: A big and important news is coming for lakhs of farmers of Bihar. Now only Aadhar card and e-KYC will not be enough to avail the benefits of agricultural schemes of the Central and State Government. The government is taking rapid steps towards making ‘Farmer ID’ (Unique Farmer Identification) mandatory to bring transparency in the agriculture sector and directly connect the genuine farmers. However, due to irregularities in land ownership and revenue records in Bihar, about 32 lakh farmers are still out of this digital system, due to which there is a danger of them being deprived of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi and other government schemes in the coming days.
According to the data of the Agriculture Department, a target was set to create Farmer ID of 85.53 lakh beneficiary farmers in Bihar in the first phase. However, despite continuous campaigns, only 53.45 lakh farmers have been registered so far.
About 32 lakh farmers still have not been able to join this process. The biggest reason behind this is that many farmers are farming on the land of their ancestors, but the mutation of the land has not been done in their name or many farmers live outside the state for employment.
Only e-KYC will not work, verification of land is mandatory
The entire system of Farmer Registry is verifying the identity of the farmer by linking it to the government records of his land. Farmer’s Aadhaar, mobile number, bank account and Khasra/account number of the land should match with each other. If the land is registered in someone else’s name in the revenue records or there is a mistake in the name and address, then Farmer ID is not being issued. The aim of the government is to exclude ineligible or income tax paying beneficiaries from the scheme and extend assistance only to genuine farmers.
The biggest challenge facing sharecropper farmers
The biggest problem of the Farmer ID system is facing share cropping and non-ryot farmers. There is a large population in Bihar who work as sharecroppers on others’ lands. Since the ownership of the land is with someone else, the names of sharecropper farmers are not recorded in the government records. In such a situation, the question is arising whether the real benefit of government schemes will be given to the farmer who sweats in the fields or to the paper landlord.
From fertilizer, seeds to selling crops on MSP, it will also be necessary.
The scope of digital farmer identification will not be limited to PM Kisan Yojana only. To get fertilizers and seeds at subsidy in the coming time. For subsidy on agricultural equipment. To sell crops at Minimum Support Price (MSP) at government procurement centers and to avail crop insurance benefits.
Farmer ID will become the main medium for all these facilities. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had also clarified during his visit to Bihar that till now more than 10.41 crore farmer IDs have been created across the country, due to which money is directly reaching the bank accounts in a transparent manner.
Farmers should get these 6 things done immediately
- Make sure the name in the deposit/receipt is correct.
- Keep your current mobile number updated in Aadhaar.
- The spelling of the name should be the same in Aadhaar, bank passbook and land documents.
- Complete your e-KYC process on PM Kisan Portal.
- Go to Bihar Farmer Registry portal and apply through OTP.
- If the land is in the name of your ancestors, then start the process of mutation in your name immediately.
