Include landless labourers, share croppers under PM-Kisan scheme: Naveen Patnaik to PM

BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday urged prime minister Narendra Modi to include landless labourers, share croppers and vulnerable agricultural households under the PM-Kisan Yojana.

In a letter to the prime minister, Naveen said the move will help the scheme, launched in line with state’s Kalia scheme, to be more inclusive.

Welcoming the Centre’s PM-Kisan scheme for augmenting the income of farmers, Patnaik informed Modi about his government’s Rs 10,180 crore Kalia scheme launched in December 2018 which he said will further accelerate agricultural prosperity and reduce poverty in the state.

“Kalia scheme is progressive and inclusive. It covers 92 per cent of the cultivators, share croppers and landless agricultural labourers in the state,” Naveen said.

The chief minister said Kalia 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, Patnaik said.

Informing about the scheme, he said Kalia also provides for financial assistance to vulnerable agricultural households, who may not be able to take up cultivation or livelihood activities due to various reasons.

The Kalia scheme has already been rolled out in the month of January, 2019 and has created huge interest and response among the farming community of the state, he said.

“It shall be our endeavour to ensure that all eligible beneficiaries are assisted under the scheme, so that no one who is eligible is left out,” Naveen pointed out.

Naveen’s letter assumes significance as the Centre had recently sought cooperation of the state government for effective implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme that promised cash assistance of Rs 6,000 to the small and marginal farmers across the country having cultivable holding of up to 2 hectare.

The monetary assistance will be provided in three instalments with effect from December 1, 2018. The first instalment of Rs 2,000 will be transferred directly into the bank accounts of the farmers by March this year.

Earlier, Naveen had said that the PM-Kisan scheme would have benefitted the farmers more if the quantum of assistance is equal or more than our Kalia scheme i.e Rs 10,000 per year.