Bhubaneswar, Feb 24 (IANS): A total of 1.04 lakh ineligible beneficiaries have been identified under the KALIA scheme in Odisha, Agriculture Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo told the state Assembly on Wednesday.

Replying to a written question of BJD MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, the minister said a total of 1,04,076 ineligible beneficiaries have been identified under the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme.

The government has identified 56,14,707 eligible beneficiaries so far.

Replying to another question of BJD MLA Prafulla Samal, the minister said 36.50 lakh small and marginal farmers and families of 17.04 lakh landless agriculture labourers have availed benefits under the scheme.

Sahoo said the entitled farmers, who are yet to be included under the scheme, can apply through the website with required documents.

Recently, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik provided financial assistance of Rs 1,272 crore under the scheme to more than 53 lakh farmers of the state.

Each farmer received Rs 2,000 which was credited to their bank accounts directly. The KALIA scheme was launched in 2019 to support small, marginal and landless farmers.

The programme covers about 92 per cent of the state's cultivators and almost all landless farmers.