Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government will take steps for recovering the financial assistance provided to ineligible beneficiaries under the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme, informed Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo today.

More than Rs 170 crore has been provided to 3.41 lakh ineligible beneficiaries under the scheme. They include 12,000 large farmers, 9,000 minor girls/boys, 20,000 government employees & pensioners and over 3 lakh persons who identified themselves as separate beneficiaries despite being members of same families, the minister said.

The money will be recovered from salary/pension of the government employees/pensioners who have availed the financial assistance. Furthermore, only one member of a beneficiary family, whose multiple members are ineligible beneficiary, will remain as eligible beneficiary. Other ineligible beneficiaries will be asked to refund the amount, he added.

Financial assistance to eligible beneficiaries for Kharif-2019 will by provided by September, official sources said.