It is high time the Centre devised ways and means to dovetail the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) with farming operations so that the cost of cultivation can be reduced and farming made more remunerative, according to Y Sivaji, former member of the Rajya Sabha and a representative of the Virginia tobacco growers in Andhra Pradesh.

In a press release, he said that he had submitted his views to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier this week. “Every year, thousands of crores are being spent on NREGS and the expenditure would be more purposeful if the scheme is integrated with farming,” he said.

Lauding the objective of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to double the income of farmers by 2022, he said it would be possible only if the real income of farmers grows by 15 per cent or so. He said farm input and transaction costs should be reduced and agricultural productivity increased to realise the objective.

Minimum support prices have been declared only for 24 crops and they should be announced for other crops as well and, when the price falls below the MSP, market intervention should be taken up, he said.

Sivaji also pleaded for a national policy on farm loan waivers. Agricultural universities should be made more accountable and farm mechanisation should be encouraged, he said.

There should be social security for farmers and farm labour as well, and pension schemes should be introduced for farm labourers, he added.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW