Kalia Yojana: Odisha farmers receive Rs 12,500 crore so far

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said that till date, assistance of Rs 12,500 crore has been given to the farmers of the state under Kalia Yojana.

As many as 44.56 lakh farmers in Odisha have received the KALIA assistance worth Rs 900 crore on the auspicious occasion of Nuakhai festival.

The Chief Minister released this assistance during a programme organized through video conferencing. This assistance is provided for rabi crop.

Rs 2000 has been disbursed to the bank account of each farming family. A total of 43.88 lakh small and marginal farmers, and 68750 landless farmers have received the benefit, as per an official release issued by the CMO.

On the occasion, Naveen said he wants children from farming families to become doctors, engineers and join good professions.

By this, they can bring fame to their family and to the entire state, he said.

It is worth noting that the state government is giving Kalia scholarship to the children of the farmers who are receiving Kalia Yojana assistance.

The Chief Minister said that the state government is paying the premium of crop insurance for the benefit of farmers.

He said that more than 22 lakh farmers have already registered for insurance this year.

It is worth noting that under Kalia Yojana, direct assistance is given to the small and marginal farmers to buy seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and machinery for agriculture.

Along with this, the landless farmers are also given support for various livelihood such as goat, chicken, cattle rearing, bee farming, vegetable farming etc.

The scheme was launched in 2018.

Agriculture Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain, Development Commissioner-cum-ACS, Principal Secretary of DA&FE, Director of Agriculture & FP, Director of Horticulture, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Cooperation, KALIA Advisors & beneficiaries and other senior officials attended the event.