Naveen to distribute 5,000 free mobiles to farmers

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will distribute free mobile handsets to 5,000 farmers on Tuesday keeping in line with the announcement made in the Budget for 2013-14.

The Budget had set aside Rs 2 crore for providing free mobile phones to 20,000 farmers. The scheme was the highlight of a separate agriculture budget, present along with the general budget, in February, this year.

"The chief minister will provide free mobile phones to 5,000 farmers as per commitment made in the Budget. The farmers having Kisan Credit cards will be eligible to get these instruments. They are selected by a committee at the district level chaired by the respective collector. The farmers are being selected from all districts. We will be offering them standard Nokia handsets. The government is negotiating with BSNL which will enable free SMS alerts and voice calls to farmers on vital market information relating to seed availability, prices and weather," said Bikram Arukh, minister for cooperation and rural development.

The distribution of free mobile phones is viewed by political observers as a pre-poll dole by the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) along with similar schemes like free laptops for meritorious students having passed the +2 level and the Rs 1 per kg rice programme, aimed at wooing targeted voter groups.