Bhubaneswar: The state government has urged farmers not to pay anything to middlemen for ‘Green Forms’ to enrol themselves under KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) scheme. Farmers can easily fill up the ‘Green Forms’ and should drop them only in the ‘Green Boxes’ kept at panchayat offices, the government said.
If there is any difficulty in getting the ‘Green Forms’ farmers can use the photocopies of thereof taken from the advertisement published in local newspapers by the government.
Information, Education and Communication (IEC) tools are vital for effective implementation of the schemes, and this is especially true in the case of farmers. How IEC material can help spread the message about KALIA is proved by the jingles and videos aired through TV, and the videos shown through mobile LED screens in villages.
Two jingles on KALIA and its procedures are already being aired six times a day by all the 14 All India Radio (AIR) stations in Odisha on AIR’s primary channel. They are also aired 10 times a day on Vividh Bharati, AIR’s Rainbow FM and private FM channels reaching nearly one crore listeners every day.
IEC videos on KALIA and its procedures are also reaching around 80 per cent of Odisha’s population via TV Commercials (TVCs) through seven news channels, two entertainment channels and Doordarshan.
Both are aired 10 times a day making it 200 TVCs on a single day. While the TVC on KALIA tells listeners about its benefits, the one on KALIA procedures explains how a farmer can register himself/herself for the scheme.
The IEC videos in Sambalpuri and Desia languages are drawing more and more farmers to KALIA. Thousands of farmers are queuing up in front of Gram Panchayat offices to get the ‘Green Forms for enrolling in the new scheme, which aims to speed up agricultural growth and reduce poverty in Odisha.
The videos in the two important regional languages will also be used during the PEETHA (Peoples Empowerment – Enabling Transparency and Accountability of Odisha Initiatives) programme on KALIA at the Gram Panchayat-level.