Union Labour and Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday, 20 June 2026, attended a Kisan Sangosthi (farmer conclave) where he listened to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to farmers. PM Modi released the 23rd instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme from West Bengal during the event.

Context

Mandaviya shared his experience at the conclave on X, writing: 'किसानों का कल्याण, मोदी सरकार की प्राथमिकता!' ('Farmer welfare is the Modi government's priority!'). He noted that sitting alongside annadata (providers of food, i.e., farmers) and hearing the Prime Minister's address reinforced the government's commitment to agricultural welfare. The minister stated that the 23rd instalment released from Bengal would further empower and prosper the country's farmers.

The Kisan Sangosthi format brings together farmers, policymakers, and party leaders to discuss agricultural welfare directly. Mandaviya's attendance signals cross-ministerial participation in the government's farmer outreach, with the event drawing senior cabinet members beyond the agriculture portfolio.

Policy Backdrop

PM-KISAN was launched in February 2019 as a direct income-support scheme for landholding farmer families across India. It provides ₹6,000 per year in three equal instalments of ₹2,000 each, transferred directly to beneficiary bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism.

The scheme represents a core pillar of the central government's agricultural welfare strategy, complementing crop insurance, credit support, and minimum support price (MSP) procurement. Successive instalments have been released at high-visibility public events, often from symbolically significant states, to underscore the government's outreach to the farming community. West Bengal, a politically contested state with a large agrarian population, has previously served as the venue for such releases.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of each PM-KISAN instalment are landholding farmer families registered under the scheme across India. The direct cash transfer model is designed to supplement farm incomes without intermediaries, addressing income volatility tied to seasonal cycles and market fluctuations.

The release of the 23rd instalment continues a pattern of regular, periodic disbursements since the scheme's inception. For farmers in West Bengal and across the country, each instalment provides immediate liquidity that can be directed toward input costs, household needs, or debt repayment. Cross-ministerial presence at events like the Kisan Sangosthi also signals that farmer welfare is framed as a whole-of-government priority rather than the exclusive domain of the agriculture ministry.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the rollout and credit timelines for the 23rd instalment across states, and whether any new policy announcements accompany the disbursement. The next Union Budget and upcoming state-level farmer outreach events will be closely watched for signals on the scheme's expansion, beneficiary coverage, or revision of the annual transfer amount.

With farmer welfare consistently positioned as a political and policy priority, further Kisan Sangosthi-style events and senior ministerial engagements with agricultural communities are likely in the months ahead.