KALIA and CM-KISAN: Odisha’s Farmer Income-Support Schemes

KALIA

• KALIA is Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation.
• CM Naveen Patnaik’s BJD government launched it in December 2018.
• It paid small and marginal farmers ₹10,000 a year.
• It paid landless agricultural labourers ₹12,500.

CM-KISAN Yojana

• Odisha’s first BJP government replaced KALIA with CM-KISAN Yojana.
• CM Mohan Charan Majhi launched it on 8 September 2024, on Nuakhai.
• Small and marginal farmers get ₹4,000 a year from the state.
• Landless labourers keep the ₹12,500 payout.

A shift in policy

• KALIA used Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
• It moved away from earlier loan-waiver-based relief.

Coverage

• It also covered sharecroppers and other vulnerable cultivators.
• So it was not limited to registered landowners.

Politics

• KALIA is widely seen as helping the BJD win a fifth straight term in 2019.
• Before losing power, the BJD government approved extending KALIA to 2026-27.
• The official portal remains active for pending claims and status checks.

Change of government

• Mohan Charan Majhi was sworn in on 12 June 2024.
• He was Odisha’s first-ever BJP Chief Minister.
• His win ended the BJD’s 24-year rule under Naveen Patnaik.

Comparing with other states

• In Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Karnataka, women’s schemes grew after a change.
• In Odisha, the farmer scheme’s state amount shrank.

Why the drop is smaller than it looks

• CM-KISAN is paid in two ₹2,000 instalments, on Nuakhai and Akshaya Tritiya.
• PM-KISAN, the central scheme, adds ₹6,000 a year.
• So a small farmer can get about ₹10,000 a year in total.
• That matches what KALIA paid on its own.

Same government, another scheme

• The same government also launched Subhadra Yojana for women.

Latest position

• On 27 August 2025, the government released ₹1,041 crore to over 51 lakh farmers under CM-KISAN.
• The fifth instalment came on 4 September 2026 (Janmashtami), ahead of the 2026–27 Rabi season.
• It sent over ₹833 crore to 41,35,978 small and marginal farmers and 13,949 landless agricultural households.
• The money is meant for seeds, fertiliser and pesticides.
• The beneficiary counts differ between these two releases.
• The scheme pays small and marginal farmers ₹2,000 for Kharif and ₹2,000 for Rabi.
• Landless households get ₹12,500 a year, paid in three parts.
• On the same day CM Majhi announced a ₹1,000 crore package for flood-hit farmers in six districts.
• He also extended the paddy registration deadline to 7 September.
• Read the state profile in Odisha.