BHUBANESWAR:  As the State Government formally launched the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme here on Monday, the BJP said the move to provide financial assistance to farmers from the contingency fund is unconstitutional.A delegation led by State BJP vice-president Samir Mohanty met Governor Ganeshi Lal at Raj Bhawan and registered its protest against the manner in which the State Government is launching the scheme without making adequate financial provision.

“The Government could have made provision in the Supplementary Budget or convened a special session of the State Assembly to seek its approval for grant. The decision to use contingency fund for farmers assistance is not only unconstitutional but will open a floodgate of corruption in the absence of a database on actual cultivators,” Mohanty said.

Alleging discrepancy in the Government statistics on the number of farmers families, Mohanty said the Government has been using different figures for different welfare schemes. While 70 lakh families of the State belong to farming community, the ruling party has decided to extend KALIA benefit to half of the families. While there is no clarity in the scheme, the Government is yet to identify the sharecroppers who are deprived of the benefits of all welfare schemes, he said adding, “We sincerely doubt whether KALIA is meant for farmers or BJD supporters.” 

Criticising the new scheme, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said KALIA scheme is not meant for welfare of farmers. This is another attempt by the ruling BJD ahead of the 2019 elections to deceive the people.