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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Expect a Budget for angry Bharat -TV Jayan and Rutam Vora

Expect a Budget for angry Bharat -TV Jayan and Rutam Vora

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published Published on Jan 5, 2018   modified Modified on Jan 5, 2018
-The Hindu Business Line

Falling farm prices, drying up of industrial jobs and lesser MGNREGA work have sharpened rural discontent. The Budget cannot ignore these factors in a year of 8 State polls

The year 2017 was roiled by rural discontent. After two consecutive drought years (2014-15 and 2015-16), when agriculture growth plummeted (see table), the countryside was awash with hope after a good monsoon in 2016-17.

However, record foodgrain output (272 million tonnes) did not translate into gains for the farmer as market prices fell below support price levels across a range of commodities, arguably also due to demonetisation. Horticulture crops too were hit by volatility.

This led to protests across central India. It also manifested itself in the erosion of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s support base in rural Gujarat. With BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan going to polls this year -- States that have seen rural unrest in 2017, besides Maharashtra -- a Budget to placate the sullen rural populace is a distinct likelihood. Unlike in Gujarat, which has an urban-industrial base to absorb the rural shock to an extent, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are predominantly rural.

“Farmers are forced to sell maize for ?600 per quintal and soyabean for ?2,200 per quintal, whereas the minimum support price [MSP] is ?1,400 per quintal and ?3,050 per quintal, respectively. We want the government to allocate sufficient funds so that the MSP for all farm commodities could be increased to one and a half times of the actual cost,” says Sunilam, former MLA from Madhya Pradesh and a farmers’ leader.

Says Yudhvir Singh of Bharatiya Kisan Union: “Urad farmers in certain parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are getting only ? 2,600-2,700 per quintal whereas the fixed MSP is ?5,700 per quintal.”

Echoing the rural mood, Sunilam says: “The government should include all farm produce, including forest produce, under MSP and ensure that farmers get it. We want the government to allocate sufficient funds so that the MSP is increased to one-and-a-half times to the actual cost.”

Farmers’ organisations have been demanding a loan waiver for agriculture workers, small and middle farmers, MSP that is 50 per cent higher than input costs, higher allocation for MGNREGA and effective crop insurance.

Says Singh: “Every Budget increases credit available to farmers by ?1,000-2,000 crore (the current annual target is ?11-12 lakh crore). The more you increase the loan availability, the more the farmers commit suicides. The government should increase the credit availability only when farmers have an income security.” “Farmers in rain-fed areas – who constitute 60 per cent of Indian farmers -- benefit very little from fertiliser or power subsidies. It’s time the Budget did something for rainfed farmers,” he says. Driving home the point, farm policy specialist Devinder Sharma says: “Each farm family must get a monthly income of ?18,000 matching the minimum basic salary of the lowest government employee.”

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The Hindu Business Line, 1 January, 2018, http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/specials/india-file/expect-a-budget-for-angry-bharat/article10007639.ece?homepage=true


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