Agriculture and Farmer Empowerment Minister Arun Sahoo had a tough time to explain the members on selection of beneficiaries under Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme when the state government has no latest database on people working the in the farm sector.
Responding to a query from Congress member Tara Prasad Bahinipati, the Minister said around 57 lakh people of the state are dependent on agriculture as per 2011 census.
While 32.8 lakh of them are farmers, the remaining 24.2 lakh people are agricultural workers.