27.2 Lakh Small & Marginal Farmers, 3.20 Lakh Landless Benefitted Till Date Under ‘KALIA’: Odisha CS

**Bhubaneswar: ** While Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today distributed KALIA assistance to around 14 lakh Phase-II beneficiary farmers, 27.2 lakh small and marginal farmers as well as 3,20 lakh landless farmers of Odisha have reaped the benefits under the scheme till date.

This was revealed at the State Level Committee meeting of KALIA scheme reviewed by the Chief Secretary at the Secretariat here today.
Briefing press soon after the high level meeting, Odisha Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said, “Today we had the State Level Committee meeting of KALIA scheme. It revealed that there were 13.2 lakh beneficiaries in Phase-I while in Phase-II the figure is approximately 14 lakh beneficiaries.”

He informed, “Including both, the figure goes around 27.2 lakh beneficiaries of KALIA scheme coming under small and marginal farmers’ category. Apart from this, 3.20 lakh beneficiaries come under landless category and the benefit has been given.”

The Chief Secretary further informed, “So far the KALIA Scholarship Scheme is concerned, we started it in 2018-19 and are covering the existing students in the government institutions, like government colleges, government polytechnics and government ITIs. They are being covered for about 35 4courses and this scholarship will be awarded accordingly.”

Agriculture Secretary Saurabh Garg informed, “We’ll now prepare for the Phase-III. In the Phase-I, assistance has been remitted to 99% accounts. Some had error in IFSC codes while some had error in the names. We’ll go in for field verification and upload it again. If a beneficiary has name in the list will be entitled to get and also the bank account error will be rectified and will also be the beneficiary.”

“Our target was 30.1 lakh beneficiaries under KALIA. Including today’s 14.2 lakh beneficiaries, the figure is now around 27.3 lakh. So, around 3 lakh beneficiaries are yet to get. Hon’ble Chief Minister has already announced that eligible beneficiaries will not be deprived. We haven’t fixed the date for Phase-III,” he stated.

**Also Read:** [CM Distributes Assistance To 14 Lakh More Odisha Farmers, Says “No One Can ‘Bandh’ KALIA”](https://www.ommcomnews.com/odisha-news/cm-distributes-assistance-to-14-lakh-more-odisha-farmers-says-no-one-can-bandh-kalia-)

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