The Odisha government has launched a new Balaram scheme (ବଳରାମ ଯୋଜନା ଓଡିଶା ଆବେଦନ ପତ୍ର ଅନ୍ଲାଇନ୍ରେ ଆବେଦନ କରନ୍ତୁ |-) to provide agricultural loans of Rs. 1,040 crores to landless farmers. This agricultural loan amount will help farmers who are facing difficulties due to the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. In the next 2 years, about 7 lakh landless farmers will be benefited from Balaram Yojana.
The decision to launch the Odisha Balaram Yojana was taken on 2 July 2020 in a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary AK Tripathi. All the landless farmers who were earlier unable to get agricultural loans will now get loans through joint liability groups. This loan amount will act as social collateral for land-based farmers.
| Odisha Balaram Yojana 2020 – Overview | |
| Name of Scheme | Odisha Balaram Yojana |
| in Language | ବଳରାମ ଯୋଜନା ଓଡିଶା |
| Launched by | Odisha Government |
| Beneficiaries | Landless farmers of State |
| Major Benefit | Easy Loans to Farmers |
| Scheme Objective | To Provide Crop Loan To Landless Farmers |
| Scheme under | State Government |
| Name of State | Odisha |
| Post Category | Scheme/ Yojana |
| Official Website | https://www.odisha.gov.in/ |
Odisha Balaram Yojana – Agricultural loans to landless farmers
In Odisha Balaram Scheme 2020, the state government will take a firm step towards increasing productivity in the agricultural sector, which will provide loans to farmers. As a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown was imposed to prevent outbreaks of coronaviruses, many landless farmers as well as their families suffered the most. Now there is a need to give agricultural loans to such farmers, for which the new Balaram scheme has been started.
Implementation of Odisha Balaram Scheme 2020
State government. Odisha has directed the officials to mobilize the banking sector through the state level Bankers’ Committee. SLBC will now provide loan assistance to landless farmers and sharecroppers who do not get loans due to lack of resources. 2 State-run organizations will be the nodal agencies at the state and district levels for the implementation of Balaram Scheme in Odisha: –
- The Institute of Management of Agricultural Extension (IMAE) will be the nodal agency at the state level for the implementation of the Balram Scheme.
- The Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) will be the nodal agency at the district level for the implementation of the Balram Scheme.
Agricultural loans will be provided to the landless farmers as a general crop loan. State government. It has also directed the authorities to work out an appropriate institutional mechanism for coordination and monitoring at various levels.
Encourage Farmers Sixty in Odisha
The Odisha State Government has also decided to encourage the agricultural partners and village agricultural laborers through ATMA who will help in the following things: –
- Formation of JLGs
- Linking them to banks
- Mobilization of debt distribution
- Facility to repay loans
Each lender will finance at least 10 JLGs in a year. Each JLG will have 5 members and one group will get Rs 1.6 lakh. The target is to cover about 7 lakh landless farmers through 1.40 lakh JLG within two years. There are about 7,000 branches and Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) of various banks in rural and semi-urban areas.
The Odisha Balaram Yojana is the first of its kind in the country to provide agricultural credit. Through this program, field level agricultural workers will get a credit of about Rs.1,040 crore.
Eligibility for the scheme
However, official notification of this scheme with detailed guidelines has not been issued by the state government. The detailed eligibility details will be updated by us after the authorities release the information. Some of the eligibility condition as per the information released so far are:
- Applicant must be a citizen of Odisha state
- Applicant should not have any agricultural land
Apply Online : Odisha Balaram Yojana Registration Process
Step to Apply Online Odisha Balaram Yojana 2020
Step 1- Visit the Official Website Odisha Balaram Yojana i.e. https://www.odisha.gov.in/.
Step 2- On Homepage, Click on “Apply Now” Button.
Step 3- Application Form page will displayed on screen.
Step 4- Now enter the required details (Mention all the details such as name, father/ husband name, date of birth, gender, caste and other information) and upload documents.
Step 5- Click on Submit Button for final submission of application.
Beneficiary Benefits
- Around 70,000 groups will get farm loans under the scheme this year.
- Each group will comprise of five landless farmers.
- Official sources said each group will comprise of five landless farmers will get maximum Rs 1.60 lakh loan.
- The state government has targeted to provide farm loans to seven lakh landless farmers in the next two years.