Single application on MahaDBT portal to help farmers: Bhuse

Farmers in Maharashtra can avail benefits of various state government schemes by accessing a single application on the MahaDBT portal, state agriculture minister Dadaji Bhuse said on Sunday.

Bhuse said the facility will be available from the forthcoming Kharif season and farmers will not have to fill separate forms for various state-run schemes.

"Farmers won't have to visit agriculture department offices repeatedly. Since this new system will reduce human intervention at every step, schemes will be more transparent," Bhuse said.

Bhuse is on tour of Vidarbha and reviewed the work of his department in meetings with officials from Akola, Amravati and Nagpur.

He said work on linking 'MahaDBT' and 'Mahabhulekh' portals was underway and once completed, farmers won't have to submit 7/12 and 8A (land) documents with their applications.

He said the agriculture department will be the first in the state that will give all services to farmers through the MahaDBT portal, adding that he had asked officials to develop a mobile application for this.

Bhuse also said applications of farmers, submitted for any scheme, will be valid for the next year even if he is not chosen for it in the current year.

"This system will select beneficiaries through taluka level lotteries. Farmers will get benefits faster due to the online system," the minister said.

Agriculture Department secretary Eknath Dawale said, under the new system, farmers will be informed about action taken on their application at every stage through SMS.