Odisha Govt Confirms Support For Implementation of PM-Kisan Scheme

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government on Thursday said it will extend all cooperation and support to the Centre in implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.

Under the scheme, announced in the interim budget this year, Rs 6,000 per annum will be provided to small and marginal farmers across the country having cultivable land up to two hectares. The first tranche of Rs 2,000 will be directly transferred into the beneficiaries’ bank accounts on February 24. The Centre will completely fund this initiative.

The Union agriculture minister recently wrote to the Odisha government seeking its cooperation for effective implementation of the PM-Kisan scheme.

A list of around 12.45 lakh first-phase beneficiaries of the State Government’s own Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme will be given to the Centre for the purpose, principal secretary of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Department, Saurabh Garg, said on Thursday. State chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi confirmed the central scheme will be launched in the state on February 24.

The PM-Kisan scheme comes as an added incentive for Odisha farmers as the Naveen Patnaik government’s KALIA scheme is also aimed at small and marginalised farmers. The only difference is that unlike the state scheme, the PM-Kisan programme does not cover landless farmers.

At an event in Puri on Wednesday, Naveen regretted that the PM-Kisan scheme has summarily ignored sharecroppers, landless farmers, agricultural labourers, and small and marginal farmers.