Patna: The Bihar government has stepped up efforts to accelerate the rollout of the AgriStack project, with a high-level review meeting held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of the chief secretary, Pratyaya Amrit.
During the meeting, officials reviewed the progress made so far and outlined the next phase of implementation. A statewide, mission-mode farmer registration drive will be conducted from February 2 to February 6 to bring as many farmers as possible onto the AgriStack platform.
Addressing district magistrates via video conference, chief secretary Pratyaya Amrit said the project must be implemented with the state’s long-term interests in mind and directed officials to expedite work so that Bihar could move swiftly into the second phase of AgriStack. He announced performance-linked incentives for districts, with Rs 1.5 lakh to be awarded to those achieving registration of at least 50% of farmers covered under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. Districts reaching 35% registration will receive Rs 50,000.
The chief secretary also made it clear that farmers would not be charged any fee for registration. The earlier service charge of Rs 15 collected through common service centres and Vasudha Kendras has been scrapped, with the cost to be borne by the concerned department.
District magistrates were instructed to ensure that at least half of PM Kisan beneficiary farmers in their districts are registered within the stipulated period. In districts already showing satisfactory progress, officials were urged to intensify efforts further.
The principal secretary of the agriculture department, Narmadeshwar Lal, said the creation of a farmer ID for every landholding farmer was central to the initiative. He described the farmer registry as a key step towards delivering government schemes in a transparent, simplified and timely manner.
Bihar’s approach to the farmer registry has already drawn national attention. At a workshop organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in New Delhi on January 28, the state’s mission-mode implementation of AgriStack was highlighted as a model for other states.
The chief secretary also praised the performance of districts that have made significant progress so far, including Vaishali, Sheohar, Begusarai, Buxar, Sheikhpura and Katihar. Senior officials from related departments attended the review meeting.
