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Agriculture
New Rules Bar Ministers' and Secretaries' Families from Agriculture Scheme
✍️ Indian Express
🗓 24 Aug 2026, 04:39 AM
👁 2
The government has tightened eligibility for a central agriculture assistance scheme, disallowing families of ministers and senior bureaucrats after earlier instances of their participation.
The central government’s agriculture support scheme, intended to provide direct financial aid to small and marginal farmers, has been amended to exclude immediate family members of Union ministers, state ministers and senior civil servants. The change follows reports that the relatives of a cabinet minister and a senior secretary had previously applied for and received benefits under the programme.
Under the revised guidelines, eligibility is limited to individuals who do not have close ties to elected representatives or high‑ranking officials, a move the ministry says is aimed at preserving the scheme’s integrity and ensuring that the limited funds reach genuine beneficiaries.
Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that the amendment will be effective from the next disbursement cycle and that existing beneficiaries who fall under the new exclusion will be asked to return any received amounts. The decision has drawn comments from opposition parties, who argue that the earlier approvals reflected a lapse in oversight.
The scheme, which has been a flagship of the government’s rural outreach, continues to target millions of farmers across the country, with the revised rules expected to tighten scrutiny of applications.
Under the revised guidelines, eligibility is limited to individuals who do not have close ties to elected representatives or high‑ranking officials, a move the ministry says is aimed at preserving the scheme’s integrity and ensuring that the limited funds reach genuine beneficiaries.
Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that the amendment will be effective from the next disbursement cycle and that existing beneficiaries who fall under the new exclusion will be asked to return any received amounts. The decision has drawn comments from opposition parties, who argue that the earlier approvals reflected a lapse in oversight.
The scheme, which has been a flagship of the government’s rural outreach, continues to target millions of farmers across the country, with the revised rules expected to tighten scrutiny of applications.