Gujarat Agriculture Minister Jitu Vaghani on Saturday, 20 June said the state's farming sector is backed by transparent fund transfers, multi-thousand-crore relief measures, and round-the-clock administrative attention — including late-night reviews by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on farmer-related concerns. Vaghani made the remarks at the state-level PM Kisan Utsav Diwas programme in Gandhinagar.

23rd PM-Kisan Instalment Released

The minister confirmed that the 23rd instalment of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme has reached 51.28 lakh farmers in Gujarat, with ₹1,025 crore transferred directly into their bank accounts via the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism — bypassing intermediaries entirely. Nationally, the scheme has so far disbursed over ₹4.50 lakh crore to more than 11 crore farmer families since its launch in 2019.

Under the scheme, each eligible farmer receives ₹6,000 annually in three equal instalments, intended to cover essential inputs such as seeds, fertilisers, and crop protection products. Vaghani said the DBT system has 'ensured full transparency in implementation and eliminated middlemen.'

Gujarat's Broader Farmer Support Package

Beyond PM-Kisan, Vaghani outlined a multi-layered state support structure. Gujarat provided a ₹11,000 crore natural disaster relief package last year, and conducted minimum support price (MSP) procurement operations worth approximately ₹15,000 crore. Combined with agricultural mechanisation subsidies, the minister said total support through procurement and direct assistance has reached around ₹25,000 crore.

The state has also expanded subsidies for modern farm machinery — including harvesters, rotavators, power tillers, cultivators, and seed-cum-fertiliser drills — to reduce dependence on manual labour. Enhanced assistance for fencing schemes and storage infrastructure has also been rolled out to protect crops and stabilise farmer incomes, according to Vaghani.

CM Patel's Late-Night Governance Model

Vaghani drew attention to what he described as Chief Minister Patel's hands-on approach to agricultural governance. 'No issue related to farmers has ever been ignored,' he said, adding that decisions are taken with urgency and sensitivity, including during late-night review sessions when required. This framing positions the CM's office as directly accessible to farmer concerns — a governance narrative the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has increasingly emphasised ahead of local administrative cycles.

Context and Significance

The PM-Kisan scheme, now in its sixth year, has become one of the Central government's flagship direct-transfer programmes. Gujarat's claim of 51.28 lakh beneficiaries in a single instalment reflects the scale of the scheme's reach in the state. This comes amid broader national discussions on farm income support, with the Centre periodically reviewing PM-Kisan eligibility norms to improve targeting. The emphasis on DBT and elimination of middlemen also aligns with the Union government's wider financial inclusion push under the JAM (Jan Dhan–Aadhaar–Mobile) framework.

With the kharif sowing season underway, the timing of the instalment release and the public accounting of state support measures signals an effort to reassure the farming community ahead of a critical agricultural period.