-The Hindu Most of the earnings of the average farm household were spent in meeting consumption expenditures. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a slew of measures in the Union Budget 2017 to boost the agriculture sector. Higher agricultural credit, higher allocation for irrigation projects, a crop insurance scheme and increased allocations for MGNREGA to dig farm ponds were among the measures announced on February 1. But will these help attain the goal...
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Activist says budget is not good for farmers -Sowmya Aji
-The Economic Times BENGALURU: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s pro-farmer pro-rural budget has largely got a thumbs down from farm activists and agriculture experts in Karnataka, a state with 91 percent of its area reeling under severe drought and a rural economy collapse post-demonetisation. The state’s current agriculture growth rate, despite the drought, is an estimated 4.2 per cent, marginally higher than the 4.1 per cent that Jaitley has projected for the country....
More »Budget 2017: High on rhetoric, low on delivery -Himanshu
-Livemint.com While there have been some positives, including the reforms on political funding, the real test of the budget was the ability to manage spending to revive the economy This was the fourth budget of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Coming at a time when the world around is full of uncertainties, more was expected from the budget than what has been delivered. The domestic uncertainty is certainly the outcome of demonetisation....
More »Nice To See NREGA Trending. But Urgent Fixes Needed. -Reetika Khera
-NDTV The "highest ever allocation" to NREGA (which also led to it trending on Twitter) in the Union Budget has provided a useful opportunity to raise some pressing issues related to the implementation of the scheme. It is natural, and welcome, that the government turn to NREGA to provide much-needed relief to those whose already precarious lives have been disrupted by demonetization, a man-made economic disaster. Widespread reports of job losses...
More »Budget 2017: What finance minister Arun Jaitley said versus what the numbers show -Samarth Bansal
-Hindustan Times The budget is about policy, and the budget speech has to strike a balance with politics. How well do they match? The allocation for MGNREGA is up 1% What Jaitley said: “Honourable Members would be happy to note that the budget provision of Rs. 38,500 crores under MGNREGA in 2016-17 has been increased to Rs. 48,000 crores in 2017-18. This is the highest ever allocation for MGNREGA.” What the numbers say: Yes,...
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