Bhubaneswar: As many as 45,965 ineligible beneficiaries have been identified to have received financial assistance under the KALIA scheme, Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo informed the Odisha Assembly on Wednesday.
“Of the total beneficiaries in the State, 45,965 have been identified as ineligible who have received the first instalment under KALIA scheme. Maximum cases have been reported from Kalahandi district while Deogarh has lowest number of ineligible beneficiaries. Steps are being taken to recover the money from them,” Sahoo said while replying to a question by Jashipur MLA Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia.
The minister further said that 51,05,290 farmers have been covered under the KALIA scheme and first instalment of Rs 5,000 have been disbursed to each of them in the first phase for which Rs 2,552.64 crore have been spent. Eligible beneficiaries who had received the first instalment of Rs 5,000 have been given the second instalment in November, he added.