Krishak Unnati Yojana

What is Krishak Unnati Yojana?

Krishak Unnati Yojana is the Chhattisgarh government's paddy input-assistance scheme, run by the Farmers Welfare and Agriculture Development Department through the Directorate of Agriculture and the state's cooperative network. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai launched the scheme on 12 March 2024, and it replaced the earlier Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana as the vehicle for paying paddy growers above the Minimum Support Price.

The idea behind Krishak Unnati Yojana is simple. The Centre fixes an MSP for paddy. Chhattisgarh had committed to a higher effective price for its farmers. Because a state cannot legally pay above MSP at the procurement counter itself, the difference is paid separately as input assistance: money for seed, fertiliser, labour and other cultivation costs; computed on the quantity of paddy the farmer actually sold at a government centre.

For Kharif 2023-24, the assistance rate was Rs 917 per quintal. Against an MSP of Rs 2,183 a quintal for common-grade paddy and Rs 2,203 for Grade A, that took the effective realisation to roughly Rs 3,100 a quintal. Worked out on the maximum quantity a farmer may sell per acre, the figure reported by the state was about Rs 19,257 per acre.

On the launch day itself, the government transferred Rs 13,320 crore to the bank accounts of more than 24.75 lakh farmers. About 145 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had been procured that season from over 24 lakh farmers at MSP.

The scheme is searched locally as Krishak Unnati Yojna and, in Hindi, as कृषक उन्नति योजना; both refer to this same paddy assistance scheme.

Who is eligible for Krishak Unnati Yojana?

A farmer qualifies if:

• The farmer is a resident cultivator of Chhattisgarh.
• The farmer's name and sown area are registered for paddy sale with the local Cooperative Society or Primary Agricultural Credit Society for that Kharif season, with land records and girdawari entered.
• The farmer actually sold paddy at a government procurement centre during the season's procurement window.
• The farmer holds an Aadhaar-seeded, DBT-enabled bank account.

Krishak Unnati Yojana does not apply an income ceiling or a caste condition. Small, marginal and large paddy growers alike are covered, and the amount scales with the quantity sold rather than with social category.

A farmer is not eligible; cannot claim the assistance — if:

• The farmer did not register for paddy sale with a Cooperative Society for that season.
• The farmer sold paddy only to private traders, or outside the official procurement window. Private sales are invisible to the calculation.
• The land is not recorded in the girdawari as sown with paddy, so no procurement quota was allotted.
• The bank account is not Aadhaar-seeded, in which case the credit fails even where entitlement exists, until the account is fixed.

There is no separate scheme eligibility test beyond these. Anyone who tells a farmer that a fee or a form is needed to "join" Krishak Unnati Yojana is wrong.

What documents are required for Krishak Unnati Yojana?

Farmers who lease land or crop-share should note that the registration follows the recorded landholder. Where a tenant cultivates, the quantity quota and the resulting assistance are attached to the registration under which the paddy was actually sold.

How to apply for Krishak Unnati Yojana

Krishak Unnati Yojana has no standalone application form. What a farmer must do is complete the ordinary paddy-sale registration correctly, because the assistance is generated from that data.

1. Before the Kharif season, visit your Cooperative Society or Primary Agricultural Credit Society and complete or update your farmer registration, giving Aadhaar, land records (B-1 and Khasra), and bank account details. New registrations and updations normally open around August each year.
2. Confirm that your girdawari entry correctly shows paddy as the sown crop and the correct area, since this decides your saleable quantity. Any error must be corrected with the Patwari before procurement starts.
3. Sell your paddy at a government procurement centre during the state procurement window, usually from 1 November to 31 January, on the date given in your SMS token. Collect and keep the tol parchi for every sale.
4. Verify that your bank account is Aadhaar-seeded and DBT-enabled at your bank branch, so both the MSP payment and the later input assistance reach it.
5. Wait for the state's bulk transfer, announced for the season once the rate is notified. The money is credited to the same account that received the MSP payment.

If you registered late, sold at a centre outside your allotted society, or changed your bank account between the sale and the transfer, raise it with the society and the district food or agriculture office immediately rather than after the transfer date.

How to check your Krishak Unnati Yojana payment

1. Check your bank passbook or the SMS alerts on the mobile linked to the account used for the paddy sale.
2. Ask the Cooperative Society for the printed statement of quantity sold recorded against your registration number, and multiply it by the notified per-quintal rate.
3. If the credit does not appear after the state's announced transfer date, approach the district Deputy Director of Agriculture or the district Food Officer with your registration slip and tol parchis.

Because the transfer is done as a single large run for the whole state, a farmer's credit can take a day or two longer than a neighbour's. A missing credit after a week is worth chasing; a one-day gap is not.

Common reasons a Krishak Unnati payment fails

• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded or dormant, so the DBT bounces back.
• Name mismatch between Aadhaar, the land record and the bank account.
• Quantity mis-recorded at the procurement centre, so the calculated amount is lower than the paddy actually delivered.
• Girdawari error: area shown as less than what was sown, capping the quota.
• Account changed after the paddy sale without informing the society.
• Joint or family account used where the registration is in a different family member's name.

Each of these is corrected at source: the bank for seeding and dormancy, the Patwari for girdawari, the Cooperative Society for quantity and account records.

Where to raise a Krishak Unnati Yojana grievance

• The Cooperative Society or Primary Agricultural Credit Society where you registered, the first and usually fastest stop.
• The District Deputy Director of Agriculture, at the district collectorate or the Krishi Vibhag office.
• The District Food and Civil Supplies Officer, for disputes about procurement quantity and tol parchi entries.
• The state agriculture portal at agriportal.cg.nic.in for departmental contacts and circulars.

The rate of assistance is fixed by cabinet decision for each Kharif season and is announced publicly, so a farmer should always check the current year's notified rate rather than assume the Rs 917 figure of 2023-24 continues unchanged.