Apparently being inspired by Odisha’s popular Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in his Union Budget presented in Parliament on Friday announced Rs 6,000-per annum direct cash transfer to bank accounts in three instalments to farmers owning less than two hectares of land.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, the move ahead of the general elections is meant to benefit 12 crore farmers in the country. It seems the Centre has seriously reviewed the benefits of KALIA scheme launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Odisha last month. Under the scheme, a fund of Rs 25,000 is being transferred to eligible farmers’ bank accounts in phases. A total of 12.45 lakh farmers including small, marginal and landless and sharecroppers in the State received Rs 5,000 each on January 25 in first phase.