Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Budget expectations for rural sector&#039;,
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&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
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As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &amp;lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&amp;rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&amp;nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read). &lt;br /&gt;
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As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp;amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. &lt;br /&gt;
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As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;
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Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&amp;rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. &lt;br /&gt;
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According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read).&lt;br /&gt;
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The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year&#039;s budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;
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The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.&lt;br /&gt;
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The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access). &lt;br /&gt;
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This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to know more).&lt;br /&gt;
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However, from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.nrega.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.
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It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;br /&gt;
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Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-1&lt;/a&gt;
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Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-2&lt;/a&gt;
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Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more &lt;br /&gt;
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Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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NCAER&#039;s wheat output estimate is lower than government&#039;s, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access
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Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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2015 is likely to be a drought year, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; access &lt;br /&gt;
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Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&amp;rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.

Given the extent of drought in more than...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &amp;lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&amp;rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&amp;nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp;amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&amp;rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot; title=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year&#039;s budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot; title=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to know more).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.nrega.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NCAER&#039;s wheat output estimate is lower than government&#039;s, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot; title=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2015 is likely to be a drought year, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&amp;rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot; title=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
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	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 30630,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Budget expectations for rural sector&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &amp;lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&amp;rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&amp;nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read). &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp;amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&amp;rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year&#039;s budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access). &lt;br /&gt;
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This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to know more).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.nrega.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.
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It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-1&lt;/a&gt;
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Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-2&lt;/a&gt;
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Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more &lt;br /&gt;
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Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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NCAER&#039;s wheat output estimate is lower than government&#039;s, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access
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Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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2015 is likely to be a drought year, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; access &lt;br /&gt;
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Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&amp;rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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$metaTitle = &#039;NEWS ALERTS | Budget expectations for rural sector&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Agriculture,farming,Livelihood,mgnrega,NREGA,NREGS,Employment,Irrigation&#039;
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Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.

Given the extent of drought in more than...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &amp;lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&amp;rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&amp;nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp;amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&amp;rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot; title=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year&#039;s budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot; title=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to know more).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.nrega.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NCAER&#039;s wheat output estimate is lower than government&#039;s, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot; title=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2015 is likely to be a drought year, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&amp;rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot; title=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.

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                <strong>Budget expectations for rural sector</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.<br /><br />Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read). <br /><br />As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. <br /><br />As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate " title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access).<br /><br />Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. <br /><br />According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173" title="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read).<br /><br />The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.<br />&nbsp;<br />Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year's budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access).<br /><br />The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.<br /><br />The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access). <br /><br />This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959" title="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">click here</a> to know more).<br /><br />However, from the website <a href="http://www.nrega.nic.in" title="http://www.nrega.nic.in">www.nrega.nic.in</a> one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.<br /><br />Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.</div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><em>References:<br /></em></strong><br />Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf" title="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf">Volume-1</a></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf" title="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf">Volume-2</a></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please <a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf" title="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf">click here</a> to read more<br />&nbsp;<br />Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf" title="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf">click here</a> to read more <br /><br />Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read&nbsp; <br /><br />NCAER's wheat output estimate is lower than government's, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173" title="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br /><br />1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate " title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br /><br />Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html">click here</a> to access</div><div align="justify"><br />Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html">click here</a> to access<br /><br />2015 is likely to be a drought year, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html">click here</a> to access<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br /><br />A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html">click here</a> access <br /><br />Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br /><br />The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify"><br />More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;<br />Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/" title="http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify"><br />Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/" title="http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />&lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959" title="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959</a> <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak</strong> <br /></div>               </font>
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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Budget expectations for rural sector&#039;,
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		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
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Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &amp;lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&amp;rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&amp;nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read). &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp;amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&amp;rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year&#039;s budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access). &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to know more).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.nrega.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.
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It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-1&lt;/a&gt;
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Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-2&lt;/a&gt;
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Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more&lt;br /&gt;
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Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more &lt;br /&gt;
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Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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NCAER&#039;s wheat output estimate is lower than government&#039;s, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access
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Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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2015 is likely to be a drought year, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; access &lt;br /&gt;
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Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&amp;rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.

Given the extent of drought in more than...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &amp;lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&amp;rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&amp;nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp;amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&amp;rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot; title=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year&#039;s budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot; title=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to know more).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.nrega.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NCAER&#039;s wheat output estimate is lower than government&#039;s, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot; title=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2015 is likely to be a drought year, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&amp;rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot; title=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
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$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 30630,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Budget expectations for rural sector&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
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Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.&lt;br /&gt;
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Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
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As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &amp;lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&amp;rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&amp;nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read). &lt;br /&gt;
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As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp;amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. &lt;br /&gt;
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As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;
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Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&amp;rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. &lt;br /&gt;
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According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read).&lt;br /&gt;
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The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.&lt;br /&gt;
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Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year&#039;s budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;
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The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.&lt;br /&gt;
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The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access). &lt;br /&gt;
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This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to know more).&lt;br /&gt;
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However, from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.nrega.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.&lt;br /&gt;
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Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.
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It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;br /&gt;
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Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-1&lt;/a&gt;
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Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-2&lt;/a&gt;
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Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more&lt;br /&gt;
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Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more &lt;br /&gt;
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Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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NCAER&#039;s wheat output estimate is lower than government&#039;s, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access
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Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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2015 is likely to be a drought year, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; access &lt;br /&gt;
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Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&amp;rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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$articleid = (int) 30630
$metaTitle = &#039;NEWS ALERTS | Budget expectations for rural sector&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Agriculture,farming,Livelihood,mgnrega,NREGA,NREGS,Employment,Irrigation&#039;
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Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.

Given the extent of drought in more than...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &amp;lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&amp;rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&amp;nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp;amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&amp;rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot; title=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year&#039;s budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot; title=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to know more).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.nrega.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NCAER&#039;s wheat output estimate is lower than government&#039;s, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot; title=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2015 is likely to be a drought year, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&amp;rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot; title=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.

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                <strong>Budget expectations for rural sector</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.<br /><br />Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read). <br /><br />As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. <br /><br />As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate " title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access).<br /><br />Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. <br /><br />According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173" title="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read).<br /><br />The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.<br />&nbsp;<br />Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year's budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access).<br /><br />The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.<br /><br />The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access). <br /><br />This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959" title="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">click here</a> to know more).<br /><br />However, from the website <a href="http://www.nrega.nic.in" title="http://www.nrega.nic.in">www.nrega.nic.in</a> one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.<br /><br />Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.</div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><em>References:<br /></em></strong><br />Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf" title="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf">Volume-1</a></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf" title="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf">Volume-2</a></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please <a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf" title="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf">click here</a> to read more<br />&nbsp;<br />Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf" title="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf">click here</a> to read more <br /><br />Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read&nbsp; <br /><br />NCAER's wheat output estimate is lower than government's, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173" title="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br /><br />1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate " title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br /><br />Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html">click here</a> to access</div><div align="justify"><br />Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html">click here</a> to access<br /><br />2015 is likely to be a drought year, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html">click here</a> to access<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br /><br />A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html">click here</a> access <br /><br />Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br /><br />The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify"><br />More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;<br />Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/" title="http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify"><br />Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/" title="http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />&lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959" title="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959</a> <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak</strong> <br /></div>               </font>
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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67efc14d58bfd-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67efc14d58bfd-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67efc14d58bfd-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67efc14d58bfd-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67efc14d58bfd-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67efc14d58bfd-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67efc14d58bfd-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67efc14d58bfd-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 30630,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Budget expectations for rural sector&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &amp;lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&amp;rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&amp;nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read). &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp;amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&amp;rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year&#039;s budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access). &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to know more).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.nrega.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-1&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
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&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
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Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-2&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
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&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
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Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
NCAER&#039;s wheat output estimate is lower than government&#039;s, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access
&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
2015 is likely to be a drought year, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;nbsp;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; access &lt;br /&gt;
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Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&amp;rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.

Given the extent of drought in more than...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &amp;lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&amp;rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&amp;nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp;amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&amp;rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot; title=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year&#039;s budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot; title=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to know more).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.nrega.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NCAER&#039;s wheat output estimate is lower than government&#039;s, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot; title=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2015 is likely to be a drought year, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&amp;rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot; title=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 30630,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Budget expectations for rural sector&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.&lt;br /&gt;
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Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
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As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &amp;lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&amp;rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&amp;nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read). &lt;br /&gt;
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As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp;amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. &lt;br /&gt;
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As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;
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Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&amp;rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. &lt;br /&gt;
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According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read).&lt;br /&gt;
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The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.&lt;br /&gt;
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Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year&#039;s budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;
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The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.&lt;br /&gt;
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The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access). &lt;br /&gt;
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This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to know more).&lt;br /&gt;
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However, from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.nrega.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.&lt;br /&gt;
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Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.
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It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;br /&gt;
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Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-1&lt;/a&gt;
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Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-2&lt;/a&gt;
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Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more&lt;br /&gt;
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Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more &lt;br /&gt;
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Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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NCAER&#039;s wheat output estimate is lower than government&#039;s, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access
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Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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2015 is likely to be a drought year, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please &lt;a href=&quot;../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; access &lt;br /&gt;
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Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;
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The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read 
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Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;
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Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&amp;rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;../latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;
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Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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$articleid = (int) 30630
$metaTitle = &#039;NEWS ALERTS | Budget expectations for rural sector&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;Agriculture,farming,Livelihood,mgnrega,NREGA,NREGS,Employment,Irrigation&#039;
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Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.

Given the extent of drought in more than...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Amidst uncertainty over India&#039;s performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &amp;lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&amp;rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&amp;nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp;amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&amp;rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot; title=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year&#039;s budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot; title=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to know more).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, from the website &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot; title=&quot;http://www.nrega.nic.in&quot;&gt;www.nrega.nic.in&lt;/a&gt; one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;References:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf&quot;&gt;Volume-2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot; title=&quot;http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf&quot; title=&quot;Advance estimate GDP Q3&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NCAER&#039;s wheat output estimate is lower than government&#039;s, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot; title=&quot;http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf&quot; title=&quot;2nd advance estimate &quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2015 is likely to be a drought year, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot; title=&quot;http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&amp;rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please &lt;a href=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot; title=&quot;https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to access &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, &lt;a href=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot; title=&quot;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&quot;&gt;http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
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Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.

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                <strong>Budget expectations for rural sector</strong></h1>
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                <br /><div align="justify">Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.<br /><br />Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read). <br /><br />As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. <br /><br />As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate " title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access).<br /><br />Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. <br /><br />According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173" title="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read).<br /><br />The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.<br />&nbsp;<br />Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year's budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access).<br /><br />The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.<br /><br />The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access). <br /><br />This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959" title="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">click here</a> to know more).<br /><br />However, from the website <a href="http://www.nrega.nic.in" title="http://www.nrega.nic.in">www.nrega.nic.in</a> one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.<br /><br />Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.</div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><em>References:<br /></em></strong><br />Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf" title="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf">Volume-1</a></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf" title="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf">Volume-2</a></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please <a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf" title="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf">click here</a> to read more<br />&nbsp;<br />Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf" title="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf">click here</a> to read more <br /><br />Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read&nbsp; <br /><br />NCAER's wheat output estimate is lower than government's, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173" title="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br /><br />1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate " title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br /><br />Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html">click here</a> to access</div><div align="justify"><br />Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html">click here</a> to access<br /><br />2015 is likely to be a drought year, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html">click here</a> to access<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br /><br />A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html">click here</a> access <br /><br />Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br /><br />The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify"><br />More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;<br />Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/" title="http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify"><br />Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/" title="http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />&lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959" title="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959</a> <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak</strong> <br /></div>               </font>
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<div align="justify">
Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.<br />
<br />
Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br />
<br />
As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read). <br />
<br />
As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. <br />
<br />
As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access).<br />
<br />
Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. <br />
<br />
According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read).<br />
<br />
The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year's budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please <a href="../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access).<br />
<br />
The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.<br />
<br />
The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please <a href="../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access). <br />
<br />
This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">click here</a> to know more).<br />
<br />
However, from the website <a href="http://www.nrega.nic.in">www.nrega.nic.in</a> one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.<br />
<br />
Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.
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It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. <br />
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<strong><em>References:<br />
</em></strong><br />
Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf">Volume-1</a>
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Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf">Volume-2</a>
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</div>
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Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please <a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf">click here</a> to read more<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf">click here</a> to read more <br />
<br />
Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read&nbsp; <br />
<br />
NCAER's wheat output estimate is lower than government's, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br />
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1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br />
<br />
Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please <a href="../news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html">click here</a> to access
</div>
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<br />
Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please <a href="../news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html">click here</a> to access<br />
<br />
2015 is likely to be a drought year, please <a href="../news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please <a href="../news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html">click here</a> to access<br />
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Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please <a href="../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br />
<br />
A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access <br />
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Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html">click here</a> access <br />
<br />
Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br />
<br />
The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html">click here</a> to read 
</div>
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<br />
More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html">click here</a> to read 
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;<br />
Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/">click here</a> to read 
</div>
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<br />
Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/">click here</a> to access<br />
<br />
Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
&lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959</a> <br />
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<strong>Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak</strong> <br />
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	'metaTitle' => 'NEWS ALERTS | Budget expectations for rural sector',
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Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.

Given the extent of drought in more than...',
	'disp' => '<br /><div align="justify">Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.<br /><br />Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read). <br /><br />As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. <br /><br />As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate " title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access).<br /><br />Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. <br /><br />According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173" title="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read).<br /><br />The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.<br />&nbsp;<br />Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year's budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access).<br /><br />The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.<br /><br />The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access). <br /><br />This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959" title="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">click here</a> to know more).<br /><br />However, from the website <a href="http://www.nrega.nic.in" title="http://www.nrega.nic.in">www.nrega.nic.in</a> one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.<br /><br />Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.</div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><em>References:<br /></em></strong><br />Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf" title="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf">Volume-1</a></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf" title="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf">Volume-2</a></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please <a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf" title="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf">click here</a> to read more<br />&nbsp;<br />Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf" title="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf">click here</a> to read more <br /><br />Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read&nbsp; <br /><br />NCAER's wheat output estimate is lower than government's, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173" title="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br /><br />1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate " title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br /><br />Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html">click here</a> to access</div><div align="justify"><br />Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html">click here</a> to access<br /><br />2015 is likely to be a drought year, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html">click here</a> to access<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br /><br />A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html">click here</a> access <br /><br />Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br /><br />The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify"><br />More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;<br />Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/" title="http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify"><br />Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/" title="http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />&lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959" title="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959</a> <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak</strong> <br /></div>',
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	'title' => 'Budget expectations for rural sector',
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<div align="justify">
Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.<br />
<br />
Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br />
<br />
As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read). <br />
<br />
As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. <br />
<br />
As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access).<br />
<br />
Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. <br />
<br />
According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read).<br />
<br />
The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year's budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please <a href="../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access).<br />
<br />
The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.<br />
<br />
The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please <a href="../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access). <br />
<br />
This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">click here</a> to know more).<br />
<br />
However, from the website <a href="http://www.nrega.nic.in">www.nrega.nic.in</a> one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.<br />
<br />
Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.
</div>
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</div>
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It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. <br />
</div>
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</div>
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<br />
<strong><em>References:<br />
</em></strong><br />
Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf">Volume-1</a>
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf">Volume-2</a>
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please <a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf">click here</a> to read more<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf">click here</a> to read more <br />
<br />
Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read&nbsp; <br />
<br />
NCAER's wheat output estimate is lower than government's, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br />
<br />
1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br />
<br />
Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please <a href="../news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html">click here</a> to access
</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please <a href="../news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html">click here</a> to access<br />
<br />
2015 is likely to be a drought year, please <a href="../news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please <a href="../news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html">click here</a> to access<br />
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please <a href="../news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br />
<br />
A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html">click here</a> access <br />
<br />
Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br />
<br />
The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html">click here</a> to read 
</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html">click here</a> to read 
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;<br />
Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/">click here</a> to read 
</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/">click here</a> to access<br />
<br />
Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
&lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please <a href="../latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html">click here</a> to access <br />
<br />
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959</a> <br />
</div>
<div align="justify">
&nbsp;
</div>
<div align="justify">
<strong>Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak</strong> <br />
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$metaTitle = 'NEWS ALERTS | Budget expectations for rural sector'
$metaKeywords = 'Agriculture,farming,Livelihood,mgnrega,NREGA,NREGS,Employment,Irrigation'
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Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.

Given the extent of drought in more than...'
$disp = '<br /><div align="justify">Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February.<br /><br />Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br /><br />As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the &lsquo;agriculture, forestry and fishing&rsquo; sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)&nbsp; during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read). <br /><br />As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July &amp; June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. <br /><br />As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate " title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access).<br /><br />Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year&rsquo;s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. <br /><br />According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173" title="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read).<br /><br />The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.<br />&nbsp;<br />Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year's budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access).<br /><br />The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households.<br /><br />The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access). <br /><br />This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959" title="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">click here</a> to know more).<br /><br />However, from the website <a href="http://www.nrega.nic.in" title="http://www.nrega.nic.in">www.nrega.nic.in</a> one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY.<br /><br />Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.</div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17. <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong><em>References:<br /></em></strong><br />Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf" title="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol1.pdf">Volume-1</a></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, <a href="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf" title="http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2015-16/echapter-vol2.pdf">Volume-2</a></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please <a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf" title="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/cpi_pr_12feb16f.pdf">click here</a> to read more<br />&nbsp;<br />Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf" title="http://agricoop.nic.in/imagedefault/whatsnew/MSP1922016.pdf">click here</a> to read more <br /><br />Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Advance%20estimate%20GDP%20Q3.pdf" title="Advance estimate GDP Q3">click here</a> read&nbsp; <br /><br />NCAER's wheat output estimate is lower than government's, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173" title="http://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=173">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br /><br />1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/1st%20advanced%20estimate%202015-16.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate " title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/2nd%20advance%20estimate%20of%20foodgrain%20production%202015-16.pdf" title="2nd advance estimate ">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br /><br />Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please <a href="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf" title="https://im4change.in/siteadmin/tinymce/uploaded/Situation%20Assessment%20Survey%20of%20Agricultural%20Households%20in%20NSS%2070th%20Round.pdf">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/civil-society-urges-more-resources-for-social-sector-4678310.html">click here</a> to access</div><div align="justify"><br />Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/incentivize-pulses-production-to-check-spiralling-prices-4677621.html">click here</a> to access<br /><br />2015 is likely to be a drought year, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/2015-is-likely-to-be-a-drought-year-4677253.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/deepening-agrarian-crisis-endangers-food-security-4676003.html">click here</a> to access<br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify">Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please <a href="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html" title="https://im4change.in/news-alerts/farm-debt-curse-continues-nsso-4674852.html">click here</a> to access&nbsp; <br /><br />A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/a-union-budget-for-the-village-himanshu-4678689.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/govt-bullish-on-mgnregs-but-bearish-on-funds-nitin-sethi-4678678.html">click here</a> access <br /><br />Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-pahal-may-be-a-success-but-not-all-dbts-are-fm-should-mind-the-gaps-malini-chakravarty-4678663.html">click here</a> to read&nbsp; <br /><br />The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/the-state-of-social-sector-spending-in-15-16-avani-kapur-and-vikram-srinivas-4678664.html">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify"><br />More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/more-than-make-in-india-jaitley-needs-to-focus-on-farm-in-india-devinder-sharma-4678666.html">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify">&nbsp;<br />Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/focus-on-farming-4678662.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/" title="http://thewire.in/2016/01/23/the-union-budget-must-not-ignore-social-security-for-children-19978/">click here</a> to read </div><div align="justify"><br />Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/union-budget-set-to-boost-farm-sector-sayantan-bera-and-gyan-verma-4678647.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/" title="http://thewire.in/2016/02/21/in-the-garb-of-promoting-federalism-has-the-centre-diluted-its-commitment-to-national-priorities-22243/">click here</a> to access<br /><br />Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-2016-to-focus-on-farmers-jobs-poverty-eradication-jayant-sinha-4678634.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/budget-likely-to-focus-on-rural-economy-schemes-to-blunt-farm-crisis-zia-haq-4678625.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />&lsquo;Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments&rsquo;, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please <a href="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html" title="https://im4change.in/latest-news-updates/hike-budget-outlay-for-all-agri-related-departments-4678619.html">click here</a> to access <br /><br />Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, <a href="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959" title="http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959">http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959</a> <br /></div><div align="justify">&nbsp;</div><div align="justify"><strong>Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak</strong> <br /></div>'
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Budget expectations for rural sector

Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February. Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of back-to-back drought, the Union Budget of 2016-17 is anticipated to provide much-needed thrust to agricultural production and irrigation, among others.     As per the estimates of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which was released on 8 February 2016, the ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’ sector is expected to grow by 1.1 percent in its Gross Value Added (GVA at 2011-12 prices)  during 2015-16, as against the growth rate of (-)0.2 percent during 2014-15 (please click here read). As per the 1st advance estimate (released on 16 September 2015) provided by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), which has been used in compiling the estimate of GDP from agriculture in 2015-16 by the MoSPI, the production of foodgrains is expected to decline by 0.5 percent as compared to a decline of 4.9 percent in the previous agriculture year (between July & June). The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier estimated that the production of oilseeds is likely to fall by 4.1 percent as compared to a decline of 16.0 percent in the previous agriculture year. As per the 2nd advance estimate by the agricultural ministry which was released on 15 February 2016 (as quoted by the Economic Survey 2015-16), foodgrain production is expected to be 253.2 million tonnes in 2015-16, which is slightly higher than the foodgrain production of 252 million tonnes in 2014-15 (please click here to access). Although the government estimates show that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 7.3 million tonnes more than last year’s, a recent report prepared by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the agriculture ministry has estimated that wheat production in 2015-16 would be 85 million tonnes i.e. 1.5 million tonnes lower than the final estimate of 2014-15. According to the NCAER report released in January, 2015-16 rabi rice production would be lower than the 2014-15 production owing to poor post-monsoon rains and lower water levels in reservoirs. Similarly, the total pulses production in 2015-16 (both kharif and rabi) would be 16.6 million tonnes, which would be 0.55 million tonnes lower than the final production of 2014-15 (please click here to read). The 2015-16 Union Budget had promised Rs. 5,300 crore for supporting micro-irrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY). However, recent media reports suggest that the PMKSY could not make much headway since it got strewn across several ministries. The scheme is expected to be consolidated this year and given a mission mode under a single command.   Dr. Himanshu, who teaches Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in his Indian Express opinion piece, dated 27 February, 2016, has said that last year's budget curtailed expenditure on agriculture and rural areas, particularly on some crucial programmes such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). It directed winding up of the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF), besides cutting expenditure on irrigation schemes such as the Integrated Watershed Management Programme and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits and Flood Management Programme (please click here to access). The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), an umbrella of farmer organisations in 23 states has shown that the Union Budget 2015-16 reduced the outlay for Ministry of Agriculture (both Plan and Non-Plan) to levels less than in 2011-12. The organisation has demanded for setting up of a Farm Income Commission for making interventions toward delivering minimum living incomes to farm households. The extent of agrarian distress could also be understood from the falling rural real wages between November 2013 and November 2015, as has been shown by the recent Labour Bureau data (please click here to access). This year in February when the completion of 10 years of MGNREGA was being celebrated, the Ministry of Rural Development informed us that the year 2015-16 has seen a revival of job guarantee programme. The persondays of employment generation has been the highest in the second quarter (45.88 crore) and third quarter (46.10 crore) than it was in the last five years. The national persondays of employment generation to date at 146 crore has been well above what this figure was at this time last year. Nearly 44 percent of all wage payments have been made on time, said the rural development ministry (please click here to know more). However, from the website www.nrega.nic.in one gets the information that the average days of employment provided per household annually under the MGNREGA was 46.2 in FY 2012-13, which dipped to 45.97 in FY 2013-14, and further to 40.17 in FY 2014-15. In FY 2015-16, the average days of employment provided per household has been 42.92, which was much lower than what existed in FYs 2012-13 and 2013-14, but was definitely an improvement over employment provided in the last FY. Demands made by Civil Society Organizations and media reports suggest that the Central Government owes 21 states Rs. 5,595 crore as dues for work done under the MGNREGA. Many states have been requesting since October 2015-16 for the release of promised and greater funds, against the backdrop of higher demand for work in drought-hit states. Since the MGNREGA is a demand-driven programme, the Centre cannot put any upper limit on the outlay. Due to fund crunch, people who worked under the MGNREGA, have not yet received their wages, particularly in the drought hit states.   It is hoped that MGNREGA allocation would be upped in the Union Budget 2016-17.   References: Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, Volume-1   Economic Survey 2015-16, Ministry of Finance, Volume-2   Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of January 2016, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 February, 2016, please click here to read more   Latest Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, please click here to read more Press Note on advance estimates of national income 2015-16 and quarterly estimates of Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2015-16, MoSPI, please click here read  NCAER's wheat output estimate is lower than government's, 24 February, 2016, please click here to read  1st Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please click here to access 2nd Advance Estimate of Foodgrains Production for 2015-16, Ministry of Agriculture, please click here to access  Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households in India (January - December 2013), NSS 70th Round, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI, December 2014, please click here to access Civil Society Urges More Resources for Social Sector, please click here to access Incentivize Pulses Production to check Spiralling Prices, please click here to access 2015 is likely to be a drought year, please click here to access Deepening Agrarian Crisis Endangers Food Security, please click here to access   Farm Debt Curse Continues: NSSO, please click here to access  A Union budget for the village -Himanshu, The Indian Express, 27 February, 2016, please click here to access Govt bullish on MGNREGS, but bearish on funds -Nitin Sethi, Business Standard, 25 February, 2016, please click here access Budget 2016: PAHAL may be a success but not all DBTs are; FM should mind the gaps -Malini Chakravarty, FirstPost.com, 24 February, 2016, please click here to read  The state of social sector spending in 15-16 -Avani Kapur and Vikram Srinivas, Livemint.com, 24 February, 2016, please click here to read More than Make in India, Jaitley Needs to Focus on Farm in India -Devinder Sharma, thewire.in, 24 February, 2016, please click here to read   Focus on farming, Business Standard, 23 February, 2016, please click here to access The Union Budget Must Not Ignore Social Security for Children -Kumar Shailabh, thewire.in, 23 January, 2016, please click here to read Union Budget set to boost farm sector -Sayantan Bera and Gyan Verma, Livemint.com, 22 February, 2016, please click here to access In the Garb of Promoting Federalism Has the Centre Diluted Its Duty to National Priorities? -Yamini Aiyar, thewire.in, 21 February, 2016, please click here to access Budget 2016 to focus on farmers, jobs, poverty eradication: Jayant Sinha, The Financial Express, 20 February, 2016, please click here to access Budget likely to focus on rural-economy schemes to blunt farm crisis -Zia Haq, Hindustan Times, 19 February, 2016, please click here to access ‘Hike Budget outlay for all agri-related departments’, The Hindu Business Line, 18 February, 2016, please click here to access Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The Journey of a Decade, Ministry of Rural Development, Press Information Bureau, 1 February, 2016, http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135959   Image Courtesy: Shambhu Ghatak