Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced financial assistance of Rs 56 crore in the third phase of 2022 crop year for over 8 lakh kendu leaf puckers and people associated with trade of the forest produce.
The bonus and incentives will be given to kendu leaf beneficiaries in July 2023. The financial assistance will benefit more than 8 lakh people engaged in kendu leaf plucking and binding, a release from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.
In the third phase of 2022 crop year, a 25 per cent bonus will be given to 7.75 lakh kendu leaf pluckers and a 5 per cent incentive to 40,000 kendu leaf binders and temporary workers. Thus, a total amount of Rs 56.23 crore will be given to the kendu leaf workers.
For the 2022 crop year, in the first phase, Rs 1,000 was given to each kendu leaf plucker, and Rs 1500 was given to each kendu leaf binder and temporary workers, thus Rs 83.34 crore of financial assistance was provided.
Similarly, in the second phase, Rs 1000 was given to 7.75 lakh kendu leaf pluckers. This apart, Rs 2000 for water bottles and Rs 160 for chappals were given to each kendu leaf plucker. During this phase, 40,000 kendu leaf binders and temporary workers were given Rs 15,000 each, totaling Rs 111.21 crore.
The total amount of assistance given to the kendu leaf pluckers and binders for the year 2022 including bonus, incentive amount, and financial assistance will be Rs 250.78 crore. That is an all-time record in a single crop year.
It is worth noting that for the years 2021 and 2022, kendu leaf pluckers were given a bonus and assistance of Rs 118.83 crore.
For the crop year 2022, 11 per cent additional assistance amount is being given to the beneficiaries of kendu leaf pluckers compared to the amount in 2021.
The beneficiaries mainly belong to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. This financial assistance will be very helpful in improving their standard of living.