Sambalpur: Urban farmers are excluded from “Kalia Yojana”, Why such discrimination among farmers?

Sambalpur: While the state government has launched the “Kalia Yojana” for the welfare of poor farmers, there have been allegations of discrimination against the poor farmers. In the Kalia Yojana, only the rural farmers are given the amount of assistance while the farmers in the urban areas have been excluded.

In January 2019, the state government launched the “KaliyaYojana. This scheme was launched when the assembly elections were a few months away. It was said at that time that the main objective of this plan was to improve agriculture and reduce poverty. Small and nomadic farmers along with landless farmers, landless agricultural laborers have been included in this scheme. Separate amount of assistance is fixed for these categories. However, only this assistance is provided to the rural residents in Sambalpur district, 3 urban areas, Redhakhol and Kuchinda, and the Sambalpur Metropolitan Municipality, where thousands of families are dependent on agriculture. Besides Sambalpur, Burla and Hirakud cities, Sambalpur Metropolitan Municipality is formed by 12 Panchayats. Many families in Sambalpur and Burla and Hirakud urban areas are totally dependent on agriculture.

Agriculture is the main livelihood of the people of the 12 panchayats in the metropolitan area. According to an official of the Agriculture Department, if 1,000 farming families are settled in a panchayat, then there must be 12,000 families living in agriculture in the 12 panchayats. Many families have adopted agriculture as their livelihood. Not only in Sambalpur district, but in most of the urban areas of the state, such a situation exists Despite being well aware of this trend, the farmers have complained that the state government is biased against the urban farmers.

Kartik Mirdha, a farmer of Khagsipali under 2nd Ward of Sambalpur Metropolitan Corporation, said that when they were in the Panchayat, they were not deprived of government schemes. While most of the people in the villages depend on agriculture, the state government is beginning to exclude from the “Kaliya” scheme. Odisha government is providing assistance amount to the beneficiaries of “Kalia” Yojana only under PM Kisan Yojana. He asked why farmers are being discriminated between rural and urban farmers because they are not included in the Kalia Yojana and they are not getting PM Kisan support as they are living in metropolitan areas.