Comments
The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) has said that the Union Budget for 2020-21 has failed to increase rural demand and purchasing power which would have boosted the economy.
“Instead, the Budget helped boost the profits of big corporates and multi-national companies,” it criticised.
“What the country needs is an increase in demand and purchasing power in rural areas. They should have done something to improve rural incomes. The Budget offers no boost to the rural sector,” the committee said.
The AIKSCC is a nationwide platform of more than 200 farmer organisations across the country.
The total budget allocations for agriculture, irrigation and rural development were ₹2.83 lakh crore for the year 2020-21, which is marginally higher than ₹2.68 lakh crore allocated for these sectors last year. In real terms, taking inflation into account, this amounts to zero increase.
Moreover, the Finance Minister slashed the allocations for the flagship rural employment programme MGNREGS to ₹61,500 crore for the year as against ₹71,001 crore last year. “Actually, the demand for MGNREGS works from States crosses the Rs one lakh crore mark,” it said.
With the cost of production going up and the absence of remunerative incomes, the government should have done to support the farming sector. “This was the time for market intervention and price support,” it said.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.