Political slugfest in Odisha over KALIA scheme

Bhubaneswar: The recent announcement of the Odisha government to release the second instalment under the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme to the beneficiaries in November has triggered a huge political row in the State with both the BJP and Congress alleging 'massive lapses' in the scheme and identification of beneficiaries.

State BJP vice-president Samir Mohanty alleged that the Naveen Patnaik government had earlier (prior to the general polls) announced that the second instalment under the KALIA scheme would be disbursed to the beneficiaries soon after the elections but it didn't do so.