India's farmers have received 'raw deal' in Union Budget: Cong
India's farmers have received 'raw deal' in Union Budget: Cong
New Delhi, The Congress claimed on Tuesday that India's farmers have received a "raw deal" in the Union Budget, and said the demand for a legal status for MSP has been met with a "stony silence", as has the demand for a farm loan waiver.
In the Union Budget for 2024-25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an allocation of ₹1.52 lakh crore for the agriculture and allied sectors.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said India's farmers received a "raw deal" in the Union Budget.
"The Agriculture and Allied Budget – which affects a majority of the country's population – is only 3.15% of the total Budget, down from 5.44% in 2019-2020. This is after a year of bad monsoons dragged down agricultural growth from 4.7% in 2022-23 to 1.4% in 2023-24, necessitating greater government support for the sector," he said.
The finance minister boasted of an increase in the MSP for crops earlier this year but the prices are still significantly below what the Swaminathan Commission Formula recommended, Ramesh said.
"The demand for legal status for MSP has been met with stony silence – as has the demand for a farm loan waiver," the Congress leader said in a post on 'X'.
In her budget speech, Sitharaman outlined a comprehensive plan to boost research, promote sustainable farming, enhance oilseed and pulse production and integrate technology into the agricultural landscape.
She emphasised the need for a thorough review of the agriculture research setup to enhance productivity and develop climate-resilient crop varieties.
In another post, Ramesh said that besides 'Pehli Naukri Pakki' and the abolition of the Angel Tax, another idea that the finance minister has adopted from the Congress' 'Nyay Patra 2024' is Employment-linked Incentives .
However, the ELIs announced in the Budget raise questions about their effectiveness, he said.
"The ELIs for first-timers provides one-month wage to all persons newly entering the workforce in all formal sectors. This scheme misreads the challenges India faces on two accounts – India's key challenge is the lack of availability of jobs. This scheme rewards those who are already lucky enough to get formal jobs," Ramesh said.
Job-seekers unable to find employment are more in number and urgently need aid but find no mention, he added.
"India has faced difficulties ensuring that its women join the productive labour force. This scheme appears to be gender-blind, with no specific attention to women youth, and only rewards women who already find jobs. It fails to do anything to incentivize women to seek jobs," Ramesh alleged.
"The two employer ELIs also need to be reworked. The INC had proposed delivering ELIs through tax credits, whereas the Budget delivers them through reimbursements for EPFO contributions," he said.
This delivery mechanism is effectively a subsidy on wages for these employed workers, whereas rebates on taxes would have been more compelling for firm owners and proprietors in encouraging hiring, Ramesh added.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.