More than 35.38 lakh farmer families in Odisha woke up on Friday, 30 October 2026 to a direct government transfer in their bank accounts — no middleman, no delay. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi took the stage at the state-level PM-KISAN Utsav in Bhubaneswar as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, joining virtually from Banaskantha, Gujarat, launched the 24th instalment of the PM-KISAN scheme nationwide.

In his address to the gathered farmer community, CM Majhi framed the moment in pointed terms: 'ଆମ ପାଇଁ କୃଷକ କେବଳ ଚାଷୀ ନୁହନ୍ତି, ସେମାନେ ଆମର ଅନ୍ନଦାତା' — 'For us, farmers are not merely cultivators; they are our annadata, the providers of food.' The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism routed the funds straight into eligible accounts across all regions of the state.

PM-KISAN at 24: What the instalment means for Odisha

Launched nationwide in February 2019, the central government's PM-KISAN scheme provides ₹6,000 per year to landholding farmer families in three equal instalments of ₹2,000 each, transferred directly to bank accounts. The 24th instalment marks more than seven years of continuous disbursement — a rare record of scheme continuity in Indian agricultural policy. For Odisha, 35.38 lakh eligible families receiving funds in a single day represents one of the state's largest single-day agricultural welfare payouts.

Odisha's own layer: CM-KISAN, ₹3,100 paddy price, and Subhadra Yojana

The Majhi government has built a state-level scaffold around the central scheme. The CM-KISAN programme supplements the central transfer with additional state funds, while the government has fixed paddy procurement at ₹3,100 per quintal — a rate announced after the BJP's 2024 Odisha assembly election victory. The Subhadra Yojana, targeting eligible women in rural households, adds another strand to the safety net. A 'Krishi Vidyanidhi' scholarship scheme for students from farming families and the centrally-backed PM Dhan-Dhanya Krishi Yojana round out what CM Majhi described as a package strengthening the rural economy.

Millets in all 30 districts — and the shadow of recent disasters

CM Majhi also flagged a quiet but significant push: the revival of nutri-cereals (millets) across all 30 districts of Odisha, part of a national effort to diversify cropping patterns and improve nutritional security. But the event carried a sober note too. Farmers in Ganjam, Gajapati, and several other districts have suffered crop losses from recent natural calamities, and the Chief Minister committed that his government would stand with every affected family — conducting loss assessments and releasing relief as per norms 'at the earliest.'

Seven years of DBT, a state that is doubling down with its own schemes, millets on the march across 30 districts, and a relief pledge on the table for storm-hit farmers — the only question left is whether the compensation reaches Ganjam and Gajapati as fast as today's instalment did.