BHUBANESWAR : Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday provided Covid financial assistance of Rs 386 crore to landless farmers’ families under the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) Yojana.
This will benefit 18 lakh landless farmers’ families in the State. Every landless farmer will get an additional Rs 1,000 besides the normal installment under the scheme. The assistance was deposited in the bank accounts of the beneficiary farmers. A farmer gets Rs 12,500 under the scheme in three installments.
The Chief Minister said that landless farmers are also being provided assistance under the BALARAM scheme for taking up agricultural activities.
Stating that farmers, workers and labourers are the nucleus of the State’s economy, the Chief Minister said that the success of the agriculture sector is only because of the sacrifice and hard work of landless farmers.
The Chief Minister said that the State government has demanded implementation of the recommendations of the MS Swaminathan Committee report to protect the interests of the landless farmers. The fight will continue till the recommendations are accepted.
He said that as the Covid pandemic has impacted the economy severely because of the lockdowns and shutdowns, the State government has announced a separate financial assistance package for street vendors, dairy farmers, construction workers and other sections of population for their livelihood sustenance. He called upon all to cooperate to contain the pandemic. He requested all the farmers to vaccinate themselves for their protection. The Chief Minister also virtually interacted with three landless farmers about how the KALIA scheme has benefited them.