Rs 1.24 crore spent on ‘student scholarship’ under Kalia yojana during FY 2021-22: Agri Minister

Bhubaneswar: Around Rs 1.24 crore was spent on the scholarships provided to students in Odisha under the KALIA scheme during FY 2021-22 and a total of 765 students from different districts were benefited, informed Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain today.

Minister Swain said this in the House of Legislative Assembly during its Winter Session while replying to a query of Khandapada BJD MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik.

The legislator Patnaik wanted to know through his non-starred question as to how many students from farmer families belonging to different districts in the State have been provided scholarships to pursue their higher studies and technical education under the Kalia scheme, which was started in 2019.

Khandapada MLA also wanted a district-wise number of the student beneficiaries as well as year-wise information about the assistance money given so far.

Replying to the question, the Minister said, “Financial assistance are being provided to the children of Kalia beneficiaries to pursue their higher studies and technical education in government-run institutions in Odisha and to empower the families as well. The scholarships were given after induction of the State Common Scholarship Portal in the FY 2021-22.”

“A total of Rs 1.24 crore was spent on the scholarships during FY 2021-22,” the Minister added.

Notably, the 765 families that benefited under the Kalia scholarship scheme include 32 from Angul, Balasore (124), Bargarh (10), Bhadrak (47), Balangir (15), Boudh (11), Cuttack (46), Deogarh (7), Dhenkanal (39), Ganjam (55), Jagatsinghpur (56), Jajpur (49), Jharsuguda (1), Kalahandi (4), Kandhamal (2), Kendrapara (52), Keonjhar (50), Khordha (22), Koraput (2), Mayurbhanj (53), Nayagarh (23), Nuapada (9), Puri (27), Sambalpur (8), Subarnapur (11) and Sundargarh (10).