New Delhi, 24 October (H.S.): The government has achieved its target of creating 110 million unique digital identities for farmers, known as Farmer IDs, five months ahead of schedule, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Saturday. He described the milestone as a historic achievement in advancing the vision of a “Viksit Bharat–Samriddh Kisan” (Developed India–Prosperous Farmer).

Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the country had completed the creation of 110 million Farmer IDs by the night of October 23, giving fresh momentum to the digital transformation of India’s agricultural sector. The target had originally been set for March 31, 2027, but coordinated efforts by the Central and state governments enabled its completion five months earlier than planned.

Achieved under the Digital Agriculture Mission, implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, the initiative is intended to facilitate the transparent and timely delivery of government benefits to farmers. These include assistance under various welfare schemes, bank credit, crop insurance and disaster relief, while reducing paperwork and the need for repeated visits to government offices.

The Agriculture Minister said the unique digital identification system would ease administrative difficulties that farmers often encounter when accessing government schemes. Previously, farmers frequently had to submit documents repeatedly and undergo separate verification procedures for different programmes. The digital framework is expected to simplify these processes and make service delivery more transparent and efficient.

The Farmer ID system is also expected to streamline access to Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) and bank loans. Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, it could improve transparency in crop-loss assessment and compensation procedures, while facilitating the timely transfer of disaster-relief assistance to eligible farmers.

The system is further expected to help authorities identify genuine farmers during the procurement of agricultural produce at the minimum support price (MSP), thereby reducing the scope for intermediaries and improving the efficiency of procurement operations.

The Union Government launched the Digital Agriculture Mission on September 2, 2024, with the objective of developing a verified digital database of farmers and integrating agricultural services with Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).

According to the ministry, more than 60 million farmers have already received benefits under various government schemes through Farmer ID-based service delivery. The verified database is expected to help curb fraudulent claims, reduce repeated verification requirements, improve coordination among government departments and strengthen the monitoring of welfare programmes.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan credited the achievement to the collective efforts of the Central Government, state governments, Union Territory administrations, district-level teams and field personnel working in villages. Describing the milestone as an excellent example of cooperative federalism, he congratulated all officials and employees involved in the initiative.

He added that efforts were also underway to include tenant farmers and actual cultivators in the digital farmer registry in states and Union Territories, in accordance with the prescribed rules. The objective, he said, was to ensure that no eligible farmer was deprived of the benefits of government schemes.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar