Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday formally launched the ‘Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation’ (KALIA) scheme amounting to over `10,000 crore to provide financial assistance to farmers of the State.
The scheme was launched by Patnaik at the State Secretariat here.
All small and marginal farmers of the State will be covered under this scheme. According to official sources, an amount of `10,000 per family at the rate of `5,000 each for Kharif and Rabi seasons would be provided as financial assistance for taking up cultivation. The assistance is for five cropping seasons spanning three years from 2018-19 to 2021-22.
Besides, as many as 10 lakh landless households will be supported with a unit cost of `12,500 to take up activities like small goat rearing, fishery kits, mushroom cultivation and bee- keeping.
This apart, an annual financial assistance of `10,000 per household will be provided to take care of sustenance of those farmers, who may not be able to take up cultivation or avail livelihood options due to old-age, disability, disease or other reasons.
Importantly, life insurance cover of `2 lakh and additional personal accident cover of `2 lakh will be provided to both cultivators and landless agricultural labourers covering about 57 lakh households.
The CM also launched the official logo, website – www.kalia.co.in and a helpline number 1800-572- 1122.
However, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in reaction on social media said, “The State Government is not sympathetic to the cause of farmers. It has hatched a conspiracy to fool them by the launching the KALIA scheme and sail through the forthcoming elections.”
The scheme has been launched with the help of Contingency Fund. Seeing the public resentment in the State, the scheme has been implemented hastily, Pradhan added.