Bhubaneswar: More than 53 lakh farmers of Odisha received financial assistance of over Rs 1272 crore under the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik through video conferencing launched the transfer of the amount to the accounts of the beneficiaries, today.

Each of the beneficiaries got Rs 2,000 financial assistance through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.

"While all areas of the economy were affected during the COVID-19 lockdown, our farmers were able to revive the agriculture sector with their hard work. I salute their efforts," the Chief Minister said on the occasion.

"The Odisha Government has been repeatedly demanding the Central Government to double the MSP. Various programmes have been initiated by the state government to strengthen marketing infrastructure for agricultural produce," said Patnaik.

The KALIA scheme has been tailored to relieve the debt ridden farmers from the debt trap, keeping a pragmatic vision to directly attack poverty by providing financial assistance to the vulnerable agriculture households, landless labourers as well as marginal cultivators of the state. KALIA scheme brings under its umbrella 92% of cultivators of the state and almost all needy landless cultivators, who can avail the benefits of this scheme through Direct Benefit Transfer mode.