Maharashtra Shifts to 'First-Come, First-Served' Model for Farmer Welfare

In a bid to enhance transparency and efficiency, the Maharashtra government has revamped its farmer welfare scheme selection process on the MahaDBT portal. The current lottery system will be replaced with a 'first-come, first-served' mechanism, a move that officials announced retroactively applied from April 1 this year.

This new approach mandates that applications submitted via the MahaDBT portal are processed in the order they are received, ensuring timely delivery of scheme benefits. The revised system also considers previously pending applications, left behind under the lottery setup, under the 'first-come, first-served' principle.

Furthermore, once chosen, beneficiaries will be informed by SMS and must upload relevant documents on the portal within a week. Non-compliance with the specified timeline or any submission of false information can lead to disqualification from the scheme and bar future participation in agricultural department schemes for five years.

(With inputs from agencies.)