Bhubaneswar: Deogarh and Mayurbhanj districts stood at two ends of the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme in Odisha with Deogarh having the lowest number of beneficiaries at 36,468 farmers and Mayurbhanj the highest at 2.27 lakh farmers.
The district-wise beneficiary list released by the state government shows Mayurbhanj on top, followed by 1.9 lakh farmers 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.
Sundargarh has 1.31 lakh beneficiaries, Puri 1.17 lakh, Cuttack 1.13 lakh, Koraput 1.09 lakh and Nabarangpur 1.02 lakh. In western Odisha, Sambalpur has 72,530 beneficiaries, Sonepur 63,372 and Nuapada 67,882.
Among lower number of beneficiaries, Jharsuguda has 36,479 farmers.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik disbursed the second phase of financial assistance to over 14 lakh small and marginal farmers at a farmers’ meeting in Odisha’s Bargarh district on Thursday.
The state government had disbursed money to 12.45 lakh farmers in the first phase while another three lakh landless farmers were provided financial assistance at a farmers’ meeting in Kendrapara on February 15.
The Odisha Cabinet is likely to approve the state government’s KALIA Scholarship Scheme at a meeting on Saturday evening.
