KALIA Scholarship (now Krishi Vidya Nidhi Yojana)

What is the KALIA Scholarship?

KALIA Scholarship is the education arm of Odisha's KALIA programme; Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation, and pays for the professional and technical education of children from farming families already enrolled as KALIA beneficiaries. The Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment, Government of Odisha, runs the scheme.

The logic is direct. KALIA itself supports small and marginal farmers, sharecroppers and landless agricultural households with livelihood assistance. The scholarship extends that support one generation forward, so a farmer's child who clears an entrance test for engineering, medicine or nursing is not stopped by a fee bill that the household cannot meet.

One thing has changed and it matters for anyone applying now. The scheme is currently listed on the Odisha State Scholarship Portal under the name Krishi Vidya Nidhi Yojana, run by the Agriculture and FE Department, and the beneficiary link has been extended to cover CM-KISAN households. If you go to the portal looking for a scheme called "KALIA Scholarship" you will not find it. Select Krishi Vidya Nidhi Yojana instead. It is the same benefit stream under a new title.

How much does the KALIA Scholarship pay?

The benefit is built around the actual fee charged, not a flat grant, and it varies with the kind of institution:

On top of the fee component, students receive hostel and mess assistance:

• Rs 1,200 per month for 10 months for undergraduate and postgraduate students; Rs 12,000 in an academic year.
• Rs 1,000 per month for 10 months for diploma and polytechnic students; Rs 10,000 in an academic year.

The Odisha State Scholarship Portal lists the scholarship amount for Krishi Vidya Nidhi Yojana as "As per course duration (Per year)" with the target set by the number of applications received, and records that the scholarship may be availed only once in a year. Payment is released by Direct Benefit Transfer into the student's own bank account after verification.

Who is eligible for the KALIA Scholarship?

You can apply if:

• Your parent or guardian is a verified KALIA or CM-KISAN beneficiary — a small or marginal farmer, a sharecropper, or a member of a landless agricultural household on the beneficiary list. Beneficiary status is confirmed at the Chief District Agriculture Officer (CDAO) level.
• You are a permanent resident of Odisha and hold a residence certificate.
• You have secured admission to a professional or technical course on your own merit, through the regular selection or entrance route.
• Your course is on the portal's eligible list: Engineering and B.Tech, Medical, Dental, Nursing, Pharmacy, Ayurvedic, Homeopathy, Para-Medical, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Agriculture and Allied Sciences, Animal Husbandry, Fishery, Forestry, Architecture, B.Sc Technical or Professional, BBA, BCA, MBA, MCA, M.Tech, Management, Ph.D, Polytechnic or Diploma, and ITI or ITC.
• You belong to any category, the portal lists SC, ST, OBC/SEBC, EBC and General as eligible, with slightly different document sets.

You cannot apply if:

• Your parent is not on the KALIA or CM-KISAN beneficiary list. This is the gate the whole scheme runs on and no amount of income or land documentation substitutes for the beneficiary ID.
• You are enrolled in a general degree course such as a plain B.A., B.Sc or B.Com. The scheme is limited to professional and technical streams.
• You are already drawing another scholarship for the same course. The scheme permits only one scholarship at a time.
• You obtained a management or payment-seat admission rather than a merit-based seat.
• You are attending a private institution outside Odisha: reported guidance excludes this case, so confirm with the CDAO before applying if your college is private and out of state.

What documents are required?

The eligibility table on the Odisha State Scholarship Portal lists these uploads. SC, ST and OBC/SEBC applicants need one extra document.

The beneficiary ID is the document applicants most often arrive without. If your parent does not have it to hand, the Chief District Agriculture Officer's office or the local Agriculture Officer can retrieve it against the KALIA or CM-KISAN record.

How to apply for the KALIA Scholarship

Application is online only and free.

1. Open scholarship.odisha.gov.in and use the Check Eligibility link. Enter your course and academic details to confirm that Krishi Vidya Nidhi Yojana appears in the list of schemes you qualify for.
2. Complete the one-time Aadhaar registration. Enter your Aadhaar number and the OTP sent to the mobile number linked to it. Your user ID and password arrive by SMS and email. Your name, gender and date of birth come from the Aadhaar database and cannot be edited later.
3. Log in, then select Agriculture & FE Department as the department and Krishi Vidya Nidhi Yojana as the scheme.
4. Fill the student, academic, eligibility and bank sections. Enter your parent's beneficiary ID exactly as it appears on the KALIA or CM-KISAN record, a single wrong digit stops the CDAO verification.
5. Upload the Aadhaar, beneficiary ID, ration card, residence certificate, institute declaration certificate, matriculation certificate, last marksheet, photograph and caste certificate where applicable.
6. Submit, then download and print the completed form. The application locks on submission.
7. Give the printout and originals to the scholarship nodal officer at your institution, who verifies the academic and fee details and forwards the case.
8. The Chief District Agriculture Officer independently verifies your parent's beneficiary status, after which the amount is released by DBT.

How do I check my application status?

Use Know Your Status on the portal home page and enter your Aadhaar number or application number; an OTP confirms your identity. The status screen shows the institute verification stage, the CDAO verification stage and the payment stage separately, which is useful because this scheme has two independent verifiers and a case can sit waiting at either.

If you find an error after submitting, ask your institute's nodal person to Revert the application. It then reopens in your login for correction and resubmission. Do not create a second application; duplicates are rejected.

Why KALIA Scholarship applications get rejected

• Beneficiary ID does not match any KALIA or CM-KISAN record. Verify the number with the local Agriculture Officer before entering it.
• Parent's name spelt differently on the ration card and the beneficiary record, so the household link cannot be established.
• Course not on the eligible list. General degree courses are outside the scheme entirely.
• Institute declaration certificate missing or incomplete. The fee structure on this certificate is what the sanction amount is calculated from.
• Second scholarship already drawn. The one-scholarship-at-a-time rule is checked centrally on the portal.
• Application never forwarded by the institution before the deadline.
• Bank account not in the student's name or not Aadhaar-seeded, which blocks the DBT credit even after sanction.

Key dates and grievance route

The application window for this scheme opens twice a year, typically around July to August for one academic session and November to December for the next. The most recent cycle listed on the Odisha State Scholarship Portal carried a last date of 20 December 2025. Because the department has extended deadlines in past cycles, check the Announcement section on the portal home page rather than relying on a third-party date.

For technical problems with the form, call the Sanjog Helpline on 155335 or 1800-345-6770, the toll-free helpdesk of the State Scholarship Portal, open 9 AM to 5 PM on government working days. For beneficiary-status disputes, approach the Chief District Agriculture Officer of your district, that office, not the portal helpdesk, controls the verification that most often holds up a case. Written grievances can be filed on the Odisha government's public grievance system at janasunani.odisha.gov.in.

Applying is free at every stage, and no agent can charge you to add a student to the beneficiary-linked scholarship list.