Just before the festival season, over 9.34 crore farmers across India received a direct cash transfer — ₹18,690.32 crore credited to their bank accounts in a single event. Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Friday, October 30, 2026, took to X to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for releasing the 24th instalment of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme through a programme held in Gujarat.

₹18,690 Crore Reaches Farmers Before Festival Season

The transfer, executed at a Gujarat event hosted by PM Modi, pushed funds directly into the accounts of eligible small and marginal farmer families under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi — a scheme that provides ₹6,000 annually in three instalments as guaranteed income support. The pre-festival timing was deliberate and visible, and it did not go unnoticed by state leaders.

CM Choudhary, in his post, described farmers as 'annadata' — the providers of food — and called the transfer a 'saugaat' (gift) ahead of the festive period. He expressed 'heartfelt gratitude' on behalf of Bihar's hardworking farmers, underscoring both the scale of the scheme and its human resonance in an agrarian state.

PM-KISAN's Eight-Year Journey to 9.34 Crore Beneficiaries

Launched in December 2018 as a central sector direct benefit transfer scheme, PM-KISAN was designed to bridge the income gap for small and marginal farmers who depend on each agricultural season. Funds flow directly to bank accounts — no middlemen, no leakage through intermediaries. With 24 instalments now completed, the scheme has become one of India's most consistently executed welfare programmes.

Bihar, with its large and predominantly rural farming population, has been among the significant beneficiary states in each cycle. For farmers in the state, the pre-festival credit carries real weight — it arrives at a time when household spending on food, clothing, and celebration peaks.

Why Bihar's CM Is Speaking Up — and What It Signals

Statements from state leaders acknowledging central welfare transfers are a familiar feature of Indian political communication — but the specificity of CM Choudhary's acknowledgement reflects a broader pattern in BJP-governed states: tying central scheme delivery to grassroots political messaging ahead of festive cycles. It is both a thank-you and a signal to the state's farming electorate about who delivered.

The next marker to watch: whether the Union Budget expands beneficiary coverage or revises the ₹6,000 annual ceiling — a figure that farming groups have periodically argued no longer reflects input cost realities.

For Bihar's annadata, the money is already in the account. The political conversation around what comes next is just beginning.