Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday promised that 25 lakh more identified peasants will get ₹10,000 under the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme on the day the Biju Janata Dal forms the government again in Odisha.
Addressing a public meeting at Jeypore in Koraput district on Friday, he said a list of 25 lakh more farmers has been prepared who will get the benefit under the scheme. “Not a single farmer will be left out,” he reiterated. According to him, 40 lakh farmers have already benefited from this scheme.
Although the party election manifesto is yet to be declared, Mr. Patnaik said “farmers’ welfare” was his top priority.
Mr. Patnaik’s promise coincided with a meeting of a BJD team with the Election Commission of India in New Delhi on Friday afternoon. The team demanded permission for disbursement of its stalled second instalment. It alleged that the Odisha Chief Electoral Officer was not allowing disbursement of funds under the KALIA scheme citing model code of conduct, while there was no such restriction on transfer of funds under the Centre’s ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana’.
On Friday, Mr. Patnaik had a whirlwind campaign tour of the Maoist-affected Malkangiri district and Koraput district. He addressed public meetings at five places to campaign for Lok Sabha and Assembly candidates in Nabarangpur and Koraput parliamentary constituencies. Following Maoist violence in bordering Chhattisgarh that saw four security personnel being killed, security was tight during his visit.
At Kalimela and Mathili in Malkangiri district, he promised to alleviate the problems of Bengali settlers, terming them as family members. Bengali refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan had been settled in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts since 1972.
Polavaram project
Mr. Patnaik also addressed rallies at Pottangi, Jashwantpur, Dumuriput and Jeypore in Koraput district. At all these places he alleged that leaders of national parties visited Odisha only during election time for votes. He also came down on the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh, promoted by the Central government, that is expected to adversely affect life and livelihood of tribals in Malkangiri district. He criticised the BJP-led Central government for stopping the Central assistance for development of the KBK region and scholarship of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students of Odisha.
