Keonjhar: Topping the cake with ice, the Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik Sunday announce KALIA Chhatra Bruti, a scheme to provide scholarships to the children of farmers for higher education.
Under the scheme, the state government will bear the educational expenses of the children of farmers (KALIA beneficiaries) who are pursuing professional courses in government colleges as per merit basis, official sources said.

Patnaik, while addressing a meeting, here said, ” I want your (farmers) children to prosper and excel in future, for which I have started the ‘KALIA Chhatra Bruti’ programme.”

The chief minister, last month, introduced KALIA, (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) a direct transfer of benefit (DBT) scheme for 32 lakh small and marginal farmers including the sharecroppers and landless farm labourers. Under the scheme, each beneficiary would get Rs 10,000 per annum in the bank account to carry out farming activities.