Lucknow. The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to provide significant relief to thousands of farmers involved in the Agricultural Equipment Distribution Scheme. The process of refunding the deposits of farmers who deposited token money while booking agricultural equipment under the scheme but were unable to receive them has been expedited. Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi has directed officials to resolve pending cases within the stipulated timeframe so that farmers can receive immediate relief.
Deposits to be returned to deprived farmers
During a review meeting, the Agriculture Minister stated that refunding the token money deposited by farmers who were unable to receive agricultural equipment is the government’s priority. He directed officials to expedite the transfer of funds to the accounts of all eligible farmers and to complete the entire process within a week.
Thousands of farmers have already benefited
According to the government, 38,568 farmers who booked agricultural equipment in the financial year 2025-26 were unable to receive the equipment. Token money of more than ₹15.16 crore has been returned to the bank accounts of these farmers. The department has now been directed to expedite the process of refunding the funds of those farmers whose payments are still pending for the financial years 2024-25 and 2023-24. Approximately ₹3.57 crore in token money is to be refunded to 9,837 farmers for these years.
The government is also strict on the availability of fertilizers.
At the meeting, the Agriculture Minister also reviewed the availability and distribution system of fertilizers in the districts. He directed officials to ensure that adequate quantities of fertilizers are made available to farmers on time and that there should be no artificial shortages or distribution problems in any district. In addition, in districts where the performance of schemes has not met targets, the concerned officials were directed to improve their performance.
New Digital System Launched in the Agriculture Department
During the program held at Krishi Bhawan, the Agriculture Minister also launched the ‘Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS).’ This digital system developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been implemented with the aim of making the attendance of employees more transparent and technologically robust.