Union Budget 2021 | Budget sends mixed signals on farm sector
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Farmer advocates not impressed by on-ground impact of budget announcements
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Farmers seen during their protest on new farm law issue at Singhu border
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
Farmer advocates not impressed by on-ground impact of budget announcements
The Union Budget sent mixed signals to the tens of thousands of farmers who have been protesting on Delhi’s borders for the last two months, and the wider agricultural community.
On the one hand, the budget allocation for the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare was slashed 8.5% in 2021-22. The flagship PM-KISAN scheme, meant to provide income support to farmers, saw a 13% drop in its budget, which is ₹10,000 crore lower than last year’s initial allocation.
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Budget 2021: Who got what
India s ambitious Budget 2021 had something for everyone. But, infrastructure and healthcare turned out to be the biggest winners. The allocation for the defence sector too wasn t any lesser. In a host of announcements, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman sought to pull out the country s economy from a creaking financial system, generate more employment opportunities, and ramp up healthcare by prioritizing vaccination for all. There were quite a few firsts during the presentation of the 2021-22 Union Budget in the Lok Sabha. For the first time, the budget went paperless and members were provided soft copies of the speech and documents. The 110-minute speech was her shortest.
Achieving both growth and equity
February 01, 2021
Quoting Thirukkural, the Finance Minister said in her Budget speech: “A king/ruler is the one who creates and acquires wealth, protects and distributes it for common good.” Achieving both growth and equity is more critical for agriculture compared to any other sector of the economy, because farmers constitute the single largest segment of the poor in the country. On the other hand, agriculture has an enormous upside potential, too, given the headroom available in the sector’s resource productivity metrics to deliver required growth.
Three-fold objectives
The overarching objectives for the sector are three-fold. Creating more wealth by improving competitiveness of agricultural production, and adding further value to the primary produce through processing being the first objective. Expanding production in an ecologically sensitive manner is the next objective, given our rapidly depleting water tables and the accelerating clim
Asserting that the government is committed towards farmers welfare, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday proposed 10 per cent hike in the farm loan disbursal target to Rs 16.5 lakh crore in the Budget, and introduced an agri-infra and development cess of up to 100 per cent to create post-harvest infrastructure for improving farmers income.
The minister also proposed higher allocation for Rural Infrastructure Development Fund and Micro Irrigation Fund, and extended Agriculture Infrastructure Fund to APMCs for augmenting infrastructure facilities.
The government also proposed substantial investments for the development of fishing harbours, fish landing centres and promote seaweed farming.
Presenting the first digital Budget in Parliament, Sitharaman said the proposal on agriculture will further strengthen the Sankalp of the nation first, doubling farmers income, strong infrastructure.. , among others.
Agri and food companies on Monday hailed the decision to hike farm credit target and increase allocation for the agriculture ministry in the Budget, saying this will help in boosting farmers income and overall growth of the sector. Asserting that the government is committed towards farmers welfare, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday proposed 10 per cent hike in the farm loan disbursal target to Rs 16.5 lakh crore, and introduced an agri infra and development cess of up to 100 per cent to create post-harvest infrastructure for improving farmers income. The minister also proposed higher allocation for Rural Infrastructure Development Fund and Micro Irrigation Fund, and extended Agriculture Infrastructure Fund to APMCs for augmenting infrastructure facilities.