Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the benefits of government schemes must reach citizens in a simple, seamless and timely manner. He made the remarks yesterday during a high-level review meeting with senior officials from the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development in New Delhi.

The Minister directed all concerned departments and institutions, including Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Resources, to strengthen grievance redressal systems and make them more effective, accountable and responsive.

Mr Chouhan also instructed the formation of dedicated teams of at least 10 officers each in the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development to review complaints, public grievances, representations from elected representatives, citizens’ letters and issues raised on various portals on a daily basis. He stressed the need to simplify procedures and remove outdated and irrelevant regulations.

The meeting also focused on the use of Artificial Intelligence and technology in governance. Mr Chouhan said AI, digital platforms, data sharing, data-driven decision-making, monitoring systems and inter-departmental coordination should be strengthened across the agriculture, rural development, land resources and ICAR sectors. He said digital governance can significantly improve transparency and efficiency.

The Minister further emphasised that reforms already implemented should be widely publicised in the spirit of a “Reform Utsav.”