Thousands of Chhattisgarh farmers gathered at Jora, Raipur on Friday, 30 October 2026, as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai joined the PM Kisan Utsav Divas marking the release of the 24th installment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme — a moment that puts direct cash into the hands of small and marginal farmers across the country.

What the 24th Installment Means for Chhattisgarh's Farmers

Under PM-KISAN, eligible landholding farmers receive ₹6,000 per year in three equal installments of ₹2,000 each, transferred directly to their bank accounts without any middleman. Since its launch in February 2019, the scheme has become one of the central government's flagship instruments for rural income support. The 24th installment marks over seven years of uninterrupted disbursal — a quiet but consequential drumbeat of direct benefit transfers reaching crores of households.

Chhattisgarh, with its large agrarian population spread across plains and forested districts, has consistently been among the states where PM-KISAN outreach events draw significant farmer participation. Staging the celebration at Jora in Raipur signals the state administration's intent to make the moment visible and celebratory, not merely administrative.

Why State Governments Stage These Utsav Events

The 'Utsav Divas' format — a festive public gathering to mark installment releases — has become a standard playbook for state governments aligned with the ruling party at the Centre. It serves a dual purpose: it confirms to beneficiaries that transfers have reached them, and it gives both central and state leadership a platform to underline policy delivery to a rural audience. CM Sai, who took charge of Chhattisgarh in December 2023, has positioned welfare scheme implementation as a cornerstone of his administration's first-term narrative.

For farmers in Chhattisgarh, the event is also an opportunity to raise local agricultural concerns — from input costs to market access — directly with the Chief Minister's office in a public setting.

PM-KISAN's Long Arc: From First to 24th Installment

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched PM-KISAN in 2019, it was positioned as a corrective to decades of agricultural distress that no single subsidy had been able to address at scale. Direct benefit transfer cut through leakage. By the 24th installment, the scheme has settled into the rhythm of India's rural calendar — a predictable, if modest, floor under farm household income. The policy debate has since shifted from 'will it reach farmers?' to 'is ₹6,000 a year still adequate given rising input costs?' — a question that hangs over every Utsav Divas, including today's.