BHUBANESWAR: Mayurbhanj district topped the list of beneficiaries under Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme in Odisha. As many as 30.4 lakh farmers have been enrolled in the scheme across the State so far.
As per the district-wise beneficiary list released by the State Government, the highest 2.27 lakh farmers have been enrolled in Mayurbhanj followed by 1.9 lakh in Ganjam, 1.82 lakh in Balasore, 1.73 lakh in Kalahandi, 1.62 lakh in Keonjhar, 1.6 lakh in Balangir and 1.47 lakh in Bargarh district.
While 1.31 lakh beneficiaries have been listed in Sundargarh, 1.17 lakh in Puri, 1.13 lakh in Cuttack, 1.09 lakh in Koraput and 1.02 lakh in Nabarangpur have been provided financial assistance under the scheme.
Jharsuguda and Deogarh districts have the lowest number of beneficiaries with 36,479 and 36,468 farmers respectively. Among western Odisha districts, 72,530 farmers in Sambalpur, 63,372 in Sonepur, 67,882 in Nuapada have been enrolled in KALIA.
The State Government has already disbursed financial assistance to more than 12.45 lakh small and marginal farmers through DBT at a convention in Puri, assistance to more than 57,000 sharecroppers at Ganjam, 3.5 lakh landless agricultural labourers at Kendrapara and 14 lakh farmers at Bargarh.