PRAYAGRAJ, Feb. 24 -- Nearly 1.73 lakh farmers in Prayagraj district have still not registered under the ongoing farmer registry drive, raising concerns that many could lose access to government scheme benefits after March 15. According to the agriculture department, around 5.65 lakh farmers in the district receive benefits under various schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) and crop insurance programmes. Only 3.76 lakh farmers had completed registration till Thursday. However, after a push from senior district officials, 17,000 registrations were completed on Friday, taking the total to 3.93 lakh. The campaign has been running for almost a year. Deputy director of agriculture Pawan Kumar Vishwakarma said the registry is essential for the smooth implementation of welfare schemes. He urged all eligible farmers to complete the process immediately. "Those who fail to register by March 15 will not receive benefits under government schemes," he said. Officials said Aadhaar- and PAN-based verification is now mandatory. They suspect that some ineligible beneficiaries, who may have earlier accessed benefits by falsely declaring themselves as farmers, are avoiding registration to escape scrutiny. Despite the recent rise in registrations, Prayagraj ranked 63rd in the state as of Friday for participation in the Farmer Registry. The district administration has deployed officials across departments and launched awareness campaigns to speed up the process. Under schemes such as PM-Kisan, certain categories are not eligible. These include owners of institutional land, serving and former ministers, MLAs, MPs, mayors, district panchayat chairpersons, government employees, pensioners drawing more than Rs.10,000 per month, income tax payers and professionals such as doctors, lawyers and engineers....