Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday launched the CM-KISAN Yojana in Sambalpur and distributed Rs 925 crore to nearly 46 lakh farmers on the occasion of Nuakhai, a harvest festival.
The BJP government had earlier announced implementation of the CM-KISAN Yojana replacing the Kalia scheme of the previous BJD government.
Under the scheme, the government will provide Rs 4,000 annually to nearly 46 lakh small and marginal farmers in two instalments to be released on the day of Nuakhai and Akshaya Tritiya.
Addressing the public gathering, Majhi said a total of 46 lakh farmers including landless agriculture households will be benefited from the scheme.
As the Centre is providing Rs 6,000 to each farmer under PM-KISAN scheme in three instalments every year, the farmers of Odisha will now get Rs 10,000 annually in their bank accounts, he said.
As the preparations for the Rabi crop begin from Nuakhai, the first instalment has been disbursed during the day.
The farmers can utilize the fund for procuring farming equipment, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides well in advance, he said.
The state government has also rolled out a scholarship scheme for the children of the CM-KISAN beneficiaries to pursue technical education. The government is providing a scholarship of Rs 2 lakh to the eligible farmer’s son or daughter, he pointed out.
Due to some technical issues, all beneficiaries of CM-KISAN have not been included under the PM-KISAN scheme, he said, adding, “To bridge the gap, our government has launched a two-month saturation drive to include all eligible registered farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme from today.” Majhi said the previous BJD government had announced providing a bonus of Rs 100 to the paddy farmers in 2014 at Sohela in western Odisha. However, it failed to implement it before ending its tenure in 2024.
“We have promised to procure paddy with a MSP of Rs 3,100 and now we are going to give a Rs 800 bonus for a quintal of paddy. We had promised to reopen the Ratna Bhandar (treasury) of Lord Jagannath and with his blessings, we have reopened the treasury of the Lord,” the chief minister said.
Majhi further said that the Odisha government has submitted a proposal to the Centre for setting up an AIIMS in Sambalpur, which would happen in the coming days.
On the occasion, Majhi launched the CM-KISAN portal and Krushak Odisha Unified Portal in presence of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari and local MLA Jaynarayan Mishra.
Deputy Chief Ministers K V Singh Deo & Pravati Parida participated in the meeting through virtual mode.
All required agriculture related information will be made available through the unified portal and it will remain in operation round the year so that the farmers can register their complaints at any time, he said.