Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi launched the CM Kisan Yojana for farmers in Odisha on the occasion of Nuakhai today.

The Chief Minister launched the cash assistance scheme at a special event in Sambalpur in the afternoon.

The CM Kisan Yojana was launched to provide financial assistance to farmers who were not covered under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Yojana.

The scheme also covered landless farmers who were excluded from the PM Kisan Yojana.

Under the scheme, eligible farmers are supposed to get financial assistance of Rs 4,000 in two phases in a year.

The farmers received the first installment of Rs 2,000 through their bank accounts on the occasion of Nuakhai today. They will get the second installment on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. 

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja and Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment Department Principal Secretary Arabinda Kumar Padhee were present on the occasion.

Deputy Chief Ministers KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida attended the event thorough virtual mode from Balangir and Puri respectively.

Around 46 lakh small, marginal and landless farmers were included under the CM Kisan Yojana.

The state government spent around Rs 925 crore to provide the first installment of CM Kisan Yojana to farmers. 

The state government will provide scholarships to the children of the beneficiaries of CM Kisan Yojana to pursue technical studies, said the Chief Minister.

“The state government will soon launch a scheme to promote organic farming in Odisha,” he added.

Notably, the BJP government in Odisha announced Samrudha Krushaka Yojana for farmers in the Budget for 2024-25 financial year.

It announced that the state government would purchase paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal from farmers in the state under the new scheme. It is worth mentioning here that the Centre had announced Rs 2,300 as MSP for paddy for this fiscal.