-Economic and Political Weekly The Modi government tries hard to signal a makeover but beyond the symbolic it does not change much. Budget 2016 is not important for the proposals that it has made but for what it tries to signal about the proposed makeover, in a limited way, of the Narendra Modi government. The budget does try hard to claim that the Modi government is not a “suit-boot” administration, an image...

-The Economic Times Blog The massive increase in expenditure on irrigation in this year’s Budget has raised hopes that more water will flow into fields. This can drought-proof the farmer, increase crop output and lead to greater rural prosperity, which, in turn, will generate demand for all kinds of goods and services. So, everybody will live happily ever after. Not so simple. While higher spending on irrigation is a good beginning, a lot...

-CaravanMagazine.in Political realities blunt Narendra Modi’s attack on the NREGA At the end of December 2015, the central rural development ministry was in a state of panic. Nine of India’s largest states had declared drought in several districts. The scant kharif harvest meant many farm labourers, who might have been employed on fields, went without work. Water was so scarce that many farms weren’t sowing a winter crop, further diminishing employment...

-Livemint.com A useful way to judge the feasibility of Arun Jaitley’s targets can be to look at how such indicators have behaved in the past While announcing an increase in Rural Spending, finance minister Arun Jaitley also set himself a target of doubling “the income of farmers by 2022” in this year’s budget. Laudable as the ambition is, how achievable is it? First, there is the question of nominal versus real increase...

-FirstPost.com The preliminary reactions of many people after the Budget presentation gave the impression that farm sector got a boost in terms of a significant increase in budget outlays for the sector. But a closer look reveals that behind this apparent increase is the accounting adjustment of funds for interest subvention, earlier reported under the Ministry of Finance, now shown under the Ministry of Agriculture. In 2014-15, actual spending by the Department...