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| Budget proposals a mixed bag of happiness minus the farmers | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 2 : The annual or interim budget, it depends on the success of the BJP if it regains power, the budget proposals submitted by the Finance Minister, Piyush Goyal could be final. If Modi fails to regain power the new Government may make amendments to the proposals. The main thrust of the annual or Interim budget was to help the farmers and enlarge the defence services so that any challenge could be met from either Pakistan or China. This time the budget has provided over Rs.3 lakh crores on the defence sector. The BJP led Government had reasons to face defeat in Rajasthan, Jharkhand, MP and this way the urban voters have not supported the BJP and hence the Government had an eye on the farm sector allowing farmers and labourers some benefits.
But the farmersw say that it is too late and too little.The salaried class people have been benefitted by the way that if one gets upto Rs. Five lakh salary it will not come under standard deduction.
Former Finance Minister, Yashwant Sinha, who has turned a critic of the BJP has said that the Gover-nment, which is to face Lok Sabha elections by May should have presented an interim budget in the Lok Sabha yesterday. By presenting an annual budget the Government has violated the basic norms
By and large farmers seem to be unhappy with the sops that the BJP led NDA Government has proposed. The announcement of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi for assured income support to farmers has failed to enthuse farmers and agro economists in Punjab.The amount of assured income - Rs 6,000 per annum - is too little, and too late in the day, for the BJP to woo farmers back in their political fold, they say.Punjab is among the worst-affected states because of high rural indebtedness, with the institutional loan availed by farmers pegged at Rs 80,000 crore and non-institutional loan pegged at Rs 20,000 crore.
Farmer suicides, rising input costs and shrinking landholdings - all contribute to farming becoming economically unviable.
Though the Congress government in the state brought a crop loan waiver scheme for small and marginal farmers, it has touched a small percentage of debt-affected households.
Though the finer blueprint of the scheme announced in Budget proposals of the Modi government today is yet to come, farmers in Punjab say money is too less to mitigate the rising input costs in farming.Darshan Singh, a marginal farmer , said the amount announced was just peanuts.
"It will be enough if we get the right price for our crops. I have just two acres and we are not even able to make both ends meet. We do not need doles, just the right price for our produce," he added. Nahar Singh of the same village said had the direct income support been announced two-three years earlier, the farmers would have benefitted and not doubted the intentions of the government.
"It has been announced on the eve of the elections to woo the farmer community for political gains," he said. Eminent agro-economist RS Ghuman said 85 per cent of the farmers had small (upto 5 acres) and marginal (upto 2.5 acres) landholdings.
"The amount to be directly transferred to the accounts of farmers is just pittance as compared to the extent of farm crisis. The government should have realised that farm distress is not confined to just their low income. It is much beyond that and needs non-farm employment generation of surplus farmers and farm labourers. What will make an impact is the change in the entire farm ecosystem," he said.This way the attempt of the Government to woo farmers who could play a leading role to save the BJP from the defeat has failed.Hence the farners in bulk may not be able to vote for the BJP.But this time farmers may not forget lot of hardships they faced during the Modi's rule.
In fact the budget proposals are a mixed bag.One thing is certain one rank one pension has been the haul mark of the proposals and the Government has earmarked separate grant for maki ng this experiment of one rank one pension a success. Hence the Government could expect support from those serving in the armed forces and those who are retired from the Armed forces. |
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