Union Budget: Allocation to agriculture sector, not meeting MSP demand draws flak

Neeraj Bagga

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Amritsar, July 23

The allocation to agriculture sector and various schemes introduced in the Budget have evoked mixed response from agriculturists. There is resentment among them for not meeting their demand of the MSP for every crop.

Only Rs 1.52 lakh crore has to be spent on agriculture sector that engages 47 per cent of the population which is a negligible amount. Ten million farmers would be given assistance to adopt natural farming, but how to accomplish this task has not been explained. Dr SS Chhina, Sr fellow, ISS, New Delhi

A Budget of Rs 47.65 lakh crore is insufficient for 140 crore population. Agriculture with its allied businesses and universities has been allocated three per cent of the entire Budget which is unsatisfactory. The allocated amount should be increased to 10 per cent of the whole Budget. Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala, a farmer

Dr SS Chhina, senior fellow, Institute of Social Sciences (ISS), New Delhi, said, “Only Rs 1.52 lakh crore has to be spent on the agriculture sector that engages 47 per cent of the population which is negligible amount. As many as 10 million farmers would be given assistance to adopt natural farming, but how to accomplish this task has not been explained. Similar is the proposal to introduce 109 varieties of 32 crops, but how to enhance their output also remains inexplicable.”

He said, “To provide internships to 100 top companies instead of small units is paradoxical for employment generation. To generate only four crore jobs during five years in a country where millions of youth are unemployed is also not satisfactory.”

Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala, a farmer, said the entire Budget of Rs 47.65 lakh crore was insufficient for 140 crore population, which includes 90 crore youth. Agriculture with its allied businesses and agriculture universities was allocated three per cent of the entire Budget which was grossly unsatisfactory, he said. He suggested to increase allocated amount to 10 per cent of the whole Budget.

Ajnala asserted that this would result in elimination of youth unemployment, help in diversification of crops and replenish the underground water level. Dr Ajnala said the Indian Government was under Rs 132 lakh crore internal loan and over Rs 100 lakh crore external debt. The government was offering respite in tax rebate to the upper layer of the service sector, he said.

Senior BJP leader Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina hailed the Union Budget as growth-oriented that would induce large-scale development of infrastructure in the country. He said the focus was primarily on agriculture growth, crops diversification and digital mapping of crops, apart from crop insurance. He said all sectors had been taken care of.