BHUBANESWAR: Targeting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) fiasco, opposition BJP on Thursday demanded that the money given to ineligible beneficiaries should be recovered from Ministers and officers concerned.
Asking for an impartial inquiry into the selection of KALIA beneficiaries, State BJP general secretary Prithiviraj Harichandan said Rs 170 crore is involved in the scam. “We demand an impartial inquiry. The entire amount given to persons not eligible should be recovered from the Chief Minister, Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and officials responsible for the selection of beneficiaries,” Harichandan said.
Dubbing the KALIA scheme as another mega scam, the BJP leader said there is no consistency in the statement of Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo and the clarification given by BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb.
While the Minister admitted that 3.41 lakh undeserving persons have corned the Government dole, Deb said only 32,000 of the 51 lakh beneficiaries are ineligible. The truth will come out only after an impartial probe, Harichandan said.
Claiming that more than 20 lakh of the beneficiaries are fake, the BJP leader alleged that many of them are BJD workers and relatives of party leaders. Harichandan said his party will hit the streets and take recourse to legal action if the State Government initiates coercive action against farmers in its bid to retrieve KALIA assistance. Chief Minister had on Wednesday stated that necessary steps will be taken to retrieve the funds from ineligible beneficiaries.