Rajasthan completes digital identification of 90.19 lakh farmers
Rajasthan says it has become the first state in northern India and the sixth in the country to complete digital identification of farmers, issuing 90.19 lakh identity cards. Officials say the verified records can link farmer identities with land and crop data and improve access to insurance, procurement, credit and agricultural services.
Rajasthan has completed digital identification of farmers by issuing 90.19 lakh identity cards, making it the first state in northern India and the sixth in India to reach the target set by the Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Ministry. The state Agriculture Department said the system would help identify eligible beneficiaries and make farmer services more targeted. The number of digital identities is approximately 118% of the 76.54 lakh operational holdings recorded in the 2015-16 agriculture census.
Agriculture Commissioner Naresh Kumar Goyal attributed the achievement to coordinated work by the Agriculture and Revenue Departments. He said a verified digital identity would allow identity cards to be connected with land records and the crop registry. According to Goyal, that connection could strengthen delivery of crop insurance, fertiliser distribution and procurement of farm produce at the minimum support price.
He said the system could also improve farmers’ access to agricultural credit, quality inputs, localised advice and market links. The initiative is expected to support other agricultural programmes as well. Goyal said it could strengthen micro-irrigation, water conservation, seed and input distribution, and enrolment in the Prime Minister’s crop insurance scheme.
The department presented the completion of the identity-card target as a state-level milestone. The source material does not provide details on the technology used, the process for correcting records or the number of farmers who have already used the digital identities to access benefits. The reported coverage exceeds the number of operational holdings in the earlier agriculture census.
The figures therefore describe identity cards issued against the government target and holdings recorded in 2015-16, rather than establishing that every individual farmer or every agricultural parcel has been independently verified. Officials said the broader purpose was to make services more targeted and connect key agricultural records.
This independently written report is based on information supplied by the named publisher. Vertrix News has not independently verified the source report.