CEO Surendra Kumar did not respond to calls for comment on the BJD allegation. BJP leader Pratap Sarangi, however, said: “They (BJD) are desperate and know they will be defeated. That is why they are attacking the CEO Odisha.”
Bhubaneswar: The ruling BJD Monday alleged that the Odisha Chief Electoral Officer had stopped implementation of the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (Kalia) scheme, the state government’s direct transfer benefit for the agriculture sector, while allowing implementation of the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme. The party said it would take the matter to the Election Commission.
In a statement, BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra stated: “For the Kalia Yojana, as we are all aware, the financial and administrative approvals as well as beneficiaries were already identified before the Model Code of Conduct came into place. But the CEO now taking the plea of Model Code of Conduct and stopping Kalia Yojana funds is unacceptable.”
“If on one hand, the BJP’s PM-Kisan Yojana, which is a similar process and came much after the Kalia Yojana, is being allowed, then why are Kalia funds stopped,” Patra asked. At a rally Sunday in Nayagarh, Naveen Patnaik too said: “No one can stop Kalia. I am monitoring to ensure not a single eligible farmer is left out.”
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