Chennai: Despite a slew of measures introduced in the Budget, farmers and environmental activists say the budgetary proposals are not adequate for farmers’ welfare.
“An amount of Rs 35,984 crore has been allocated for farmers’ welfare, but that is below 2 percent of the total budget of Rs 19.78 lakh crore. At least 20% should have been allocated for farmers,” said P. Kalyanam, Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association.
Even though the union farm ministry has been renamed as Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare it hasn’t been restructured to work for welfare of farmers, he said.
“They aim to double farmer income by 2022 but there should be 50 per cent margin to their produce over the cost of production. The government has neglected this aspect. Also, farmers should have get interest free agricultural loans, and other loans should be given at 4% interest. Tractors and equipment are costly,” he added.
Most banks lend money at interest of 4% if the loan amount is less than Rs 3 lakh, but interest rates go considerably higher to 12–12.5%, if taken to purchase
tractors.
The budget could have been better if suggestions were taken after involving farmers, he added.
“Only the ministry of power seems to be in tune with the times,” said Nityanand Jayaraman of Vettiver collective. “The doubling of green tax on coal is a welcome move,” he added.
According to him, the budget is anti-farmer. “The government is making more income and inviting more investment but the expenditure on farmers is not enough. The crop insurance provided to the farmers falls far short of that required, and stated by the economic survey,” he said.
