Around 41 lakh farmers in Odisha will receive Rs 2,000 each under Kalia (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation), the flagship agricultural scheme of the Naveen Patnaik government, on September 1.

The money will be deposited in the accounts of the beneficiaries through DBT (direct benefit transfer), official sources said.

The money will be released on Nuakhai, the harvesting festival of western Odisha which mostly falls one day after the Ganesh Puja, scheduled to be held on September 1 this year.

Official sources said the state government will disburse a total of Rs 869 crore under the current instalment of the scheme. Presently under the Kalia scheme, a farmer is entitled to get the assistance of Rs 4,000 in a year for Kharif and Rabi seasons. The beneficiaries had received the last instalment of Rs 2,000 under the Kalia scheme on Akshaya Tritiya, the agrarian festival marking the beginning of sowing for Kharif season in the state.

The state government launched the scheme for small, marginal farmers and landless agricultural households, vulnerable agricultural households in December 2018, just a few months ahead of the general election in 2019.

Through the Kalia scheme, the Odisha government aims to bring an all-inclusive and flexible support system, ensuring accelerated agricultural prosperity for farmers.

Earlier, each farmer was given Rs 10,000 in two instalments. After the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme was introduced in Odisha under which a farmer is entitled to get Rs 6,000, the Odisha government reduced the Kalia benefit amount from Rs 10,000 to Rs 4,000.

The Kalia scheme will remain in force till 2025.