BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Sunday lashed at the State government for depriving a large number of farmers from the benefit of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme.
In the fifth day of the party’s Social Justice Fortnight, the BJP launched a scathing attack on the BJD government for maintaining two lists of farmers one for the State and another for the Centre.
“Will the State government explain why 40.85 lakh farmers are enrolled under PM-Kisan when it is claiming to have covered 57 lakh farmers under Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA),” asked senior BJP leader and former MP Bibhu Prasad Tarai.
The Centre had so far provided direct benefit of Rs 5,550 crore to Odisha farmers under PM-Kisan. The benefit is not reaching to 16.46 lakh farmers who are covered under KALIA scheme. Will the State government compensate these farmers for no fault of the theirs, he asked.
Of the total enrolled beneficiaries of PM-Kisan, over 37.95 lakh beneficiaries have received the financial assistance in 2021. The government should clarify why the remaining seven per cent farmers did not get the assistance.
Dubbing the State-sponsored KALIA and BALARAM as fake schemes, Tarai said the State government has provided wrong list of farmers to Centre which rejected them as they did not qualify for the assistance. Most of the fake farmers are BJD workers.
Initially the State government announced to provide assistance to 75 lakh farmers under KALIA scheme but informed the Assembly that there are 57 lakh farmers in the State. The government is fudging figures and not providing the actual data to Centre, he said.
Coming down heavily on the government for allowing rice millers to exploit the farmers, the BJP leader alleges nexus between the BJD and millers. As a result over 2.52 lakh farmers were denied to sell their paddy under the price support system. He also attacked the government for its failure to create additional irrigation potential to provide water to at least 35 per cent of arable land in each of the block even after 22 years of its governance.