Patna: Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday said weeding out middlemen from government schemes, ending dependence on kerosene lamps and enhancing farmers' income would be the three main achievements of the government in 2018.

He was talking on the sidelines of his janata darbar. He said the government was working on a plan to introduce direct benefit transfer to bank accounts of beneficiaries in schemes like subsidised food grain supply to the poor, pension schemes, scholarship schemes for students and money to be given to farmers for paddy. "The direct benefit transfer would automatically weed out middlemen and the commission culture," Sushil said.

He also said the dependence of people on kerosene lamps for light would become a thing of the past in 2018, as the state government was working tirelessly to provide power connection to all households by year-end.

He said residents would be freed of the lantern, a subtle attack on the RJD, which has lantern as its symbol.

He said the Centre had approved schemes worth Rs 5,800 crore to set up separate feeders for agriculture-related work and maintained that availability of power would help farmers cut down on input cost, thus ensuring that their income goes up.

Sushil also spoke about the third agricultural roadmap unveiled in November and said that by promoting integrate farming, the state government was committed to add to farmers' income.