Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday provided Rs 933.07 Crore KALIA Assistance-2024 to 46 lakh small, marginal and landless farmers of the state.
Along with this, KALIA Center has also been inaugurated to provide technical assistance to the farmers in all the districts of the state.
Addressing the farmers on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that every farming family should live with dignity, be strong and contribute to the prosperity of Odisha.
The Chief Minister announced that the duration of KALIA Yojana has been extended for another 3 years i.e. till 2026-27. He said that the state government will spend Rs 6030 crore for this.
He further said that education not only empowers an individual, but the entire family, the society. Therefore, for the welfare of KALIA beneficiary children, the state government has modified the KALIA scholarship program from this academic year and will provide KALIA scholarship to the children of farmer families who are studying in prestigious educational institutions like NIT, IIT, IIM, AIIMS, ICAR and various private vocational and professional educational institutions in the state and outside the state.
In order to solve various problems of farmers and provide them with technical assistance related to agriculture, the Chief Minister inaugurated KALIA Kendra today in 30 districts and said that these will work as innovation and resource centers in the field of agriculture.
The Chief Minister has given additional financial assistance of Rs.2000 to all the landless farmers of the state for this Kharif season. It is worth noting that Rs 12,500 was paid in 3 installments earlier. Over 18 lakh landless farming families of the state will be benefited. A total assistance of Rs.360 crore has been provided.
Similarly, the Chief Minister has given Rs 2000 to the bank accounts of the farmer brothers and sisters of the state for Kharif-2024. This will benefit more than 45 lakh farmers.
The Chief Minister said on the occasion that the prosperity of the farmer’s brother is the prosperity of the state.
In this program, Agriculture Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain said that this historic KALIAYojana was started from Shrikshetra Puri five years ago. This scheme has been highly appreciated at the national level and has helped the farmers of Odisha. He said that the Chief Minister is constantly expanding the size and scope of the KALIA Yojana for the benefit of the farmers.
Participating in the program, 5T and Nabin Odisha Chairman Kartik Pandian said that the Chief Minister launched this historic scheme in 2019. Till now, 64 lakh farmers have been included in the scheme. In the last five years, 13,793 crore financial assistance has been transferred to the bank accounts of the farmers. This is a big step taken by the Chief Minister to empower the farmers, he said.
Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena, Development Commissioner Anu Garg, Principal Secretary of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment Department Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee and other senior officials attended the program.