Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include landless laburers, sharecroppers and vulnerable agricultural households under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi’ scheme.
In a letter, the Chief Minister welcomed the new central scheme for augmenting the income of farmers through 100% funding and tried to draw the attention of the PM to Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme, which he termed as both progressive and inclusive.
“Odisha in December 2018 approved the KALIA scheme to further accelerate agricultural prosperity and reduce poverty in the state. It covers 92% of the cultivators, share croppers (actual cultivators) and landless agriculture labourers in the state,” he said.
Naveen further said the state government recognizes that livestock and fishery-based activities are key drivers of economic growth in rural areas particularly for landless households as the income from wage labour alone is insufficient.”The state scheme, which was rolled out in January and created huge interest and response among the farming community, provides financial assistance to vulnerable!e agricultural households who may not be able to take up cultivation or the livelihood activities due to various reasons,” he said, adding that the state government would ensure that all eligible beneficiaries are assisted under the scheme.
“In order to make the PM-KISAN more inclusive, I would strongly request you to kindly consider the inclusion of landless labourers, share croppers and vulnerable agricultural households under the scheme,” he added.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi will provide assured income of Rs 6000 per year to small and marginal farmers with 2 hectares of cultivable land. The amount will be transferred directly into their account in three equal installments. Over 12 crore farmer families will be benefitted under the scheme.
Under KALIA scheme, the farmers will get Rs 10,000 in two installments. There is also a provision of Rs 12,500 financial assistance for sharecroppers. The land labourers are also entitled to Rs 10,000 financial assistance.
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