BHUBANESWAR: Even as the state government claimed to have provided assistance to over 51 lakh farmers under its flagship Kalia scheme, it has sent a list of around 30 lakh farmers to the Centre for assistance under PM Kisan scheme.
Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo said though 57.11 lakh small and marginal farmers and 39.3 lakh landless farmers had applied for assistance under Kalia scheme, 51,05,290 farmers have received the aid so far.
The government is in the process of extending aid to 24 lakh more farmers soon.
Replying to an unstarred question by Baliguda MLA Chakramani Kanhar, the Minister said as per 2011 Census there were 32.8 lakh farmers and 24.2 lakh landless farmworkers in the state.
The agriculture census conducted by Directorate of Economics and Statistics through random sampling in 2015-16, however, indicated that the state has 48.65 lakh farmers of which 36.36 lakh are marginal farmers.
“The state government has adopted a robust process to finalise the list of Kalia beneficiaries. Farmers having agricultural land of five-acre, farmers or their spouses filing IT returns, semi government employees and pensioners have been excluded.
"So far 36,34,710 small and marginal farmers and 14,70,580 landless farm labourers have been benefited,” Sahoo told the Assembly.
While highest number of 3.8 lakh beneficiaries, including 2.27 lakh farmers and 1.53 lakh farmworkers have availed assistance in Ganjam district, it was 3.19 lakh (2.4 lakh farmers and 79,289 workers) in Balasore and 3.14 lakh (2.57 lakh farmers and 57,024 workers) in Mayurbhanj district while the lowest of 51,789 beneficiaries in Deogarh district have received the aid.
To another unstarred question by Jaleswar MLA Aswini Patra on left out farmers, the Minister said efforts are on to ensure that every eligible farmer is benefited from Kalia.
Though the Agriculture Minister informed the House that process is on to provide aid to a total 75 lakh farmers in the state soon, Opposition leaders raised doubts on the list of farmers prepared by the state.
While the state has already provided assistance to 36.34 lakh farmers, why was the list of only 30 lakh farmers sent to the Centre, they wondered.
However, data available on PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi website reveals that of 28,03,559 beneficiaries 9,71,749 have received first instalment and 9,29,025 farmers received second instalment assistance.