Patna: Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan arrived in Patna on Saturday for a one-day visit to participate in agriculture-related events, including the PM Kisan Samman programme. The visit coincides with the release of the 20th installment of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi.
Chouhan was received at the airport by BJP Bihar President Dilip Jaiswal before heading to a series of engagements in the state capital. At Patna’s Bapu Auditorium, the Union Minister joined state leaders including Mangal Pandey, Vijay Kumar Sinha, and Prem Kumar on stage ahead of the Prime Minister’s address, which was streamed live.
Speaking at the event, Pandey lauded the scheme, calling farmers “the God of the Earth”, adding, “We are able to eat because of your hard work. The Prime Minister is honouring the god in the form of farmers — and we salute you.”
From Varanasi, PM Modi released Rs 20,500 crore under the 20th installment of the PM-Kisan scheme, which is expected to benefit 9.7 crore farmers across India. In Bihar alone, around 80 lakh farmers received payments during the previous installment, although the state has approximately 1.61 crore landholding farmers — many of whom remain outside the scheme’s coverage.
The scheme, a flagship welfare initiative ahead of the general elections, has become a crucial touchpoint for farmer engagement across the country.
During his Patna visit, Chouhan also held a meeting with senior BJP leaders at Hotel Taj before heading to the auditorium. Later in the day, he visited Bihar Animal Sciences University (BASU) to participate in a tree plantation drive and interacted with farmers as part of a dialogue session.
