Calling it a ‘janadrohi’ budget, Karnataka Opposition leader Siddaramaiah questioned why the farm loan waiver had not been mentioned.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday announced that monetary allocations for various governmental schemes had been slashed due to dwindling revenues and one of the sectors that has taken a hit due to slashed funds is the agricultural sector. Yediyurappa announced that for the financial year 2020-21, Rs 32,259 crore has been allocated for “agriculture and allied activities”. These include fisheries, irrigation, cooperation, horticulture and sericulture. This fiscal, the farming sector has seen a reduction of allocation by Rs 5,825 crore compared to the previous fiscal. Chief Minister Yediyurappa, who also holds the Finance portfolio, did not mention the farm loan waiver scheme while presenting the budget. Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah has questioned the budget over the same and called it a “janadrohi budget.” “There is no mention of waiving off loans in this current budget. No new schemes have been introduced except for Mahadayi. The government has not even announced how many loans have been waived and how many haven’t. This budget is against the farmers and not pro-farmers like Yediyurappa claims it to be. Just because he wears a green shawl does not mean he is concerned about farmers. He has betrayed the people of Karnataka. This is a janadrohi budget,” said Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah. In the 2019-2020 budget, the then Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had announced an allocation of Rs 22,309 crore for the agricultural sector and Rs 15,775 for irrigation. Former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had announced that loans up to Rs 1 lakh from co-operative banks and up to Rs 2 lakh in commercial banks would be waived off for farmers across the state in a phased manner over the span of five years. In the previous fiscal, Rs 6,893 crore was allocated for the loan waiver. The total cost of the project was estimated to be Rs 37,159 crore. What agriculture sector got in 2020-21 budget The state government announced allocations under various schemes rolled out by the Centre. Rs 2,600 crore was allocated under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Scheme where additional assistance of Rs 4,000 will be given to small and marginal farmers as financial assistance. Currently, farmers are getting Rs 6,000 under this scheme. In addition to this amount, all farmers and fishermen will be provided with a Kisan Credit Card to ensure that they don’t fall into debt traps from private money lenders. Rs 900 crore has been allocated under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhim Yojana as the state’s share in the scheme. The scheme is meant to provide crop insurance to farmers. The coalition government had introduced the “Raitha Siri” where farmers were able to avail a subsidy between Rs 10,000-20,000 for growing millets including oodalu, navane, aaraka, korale, and baragu. This scheme will be extended to include teff, chia and quinoa as well. The government has proposed to start “mobile agricultural health clinics” for soil and water testing and other technical assistance to farmers. These mobile units will visit villages and conduct soil and water tests on the spot. Rs 200 crore has been allocated for the use of water-soluble fertilizers and encourage organic farming. The government has already distributed 163 lakh Soil Health Cards to the farmers. This is to formulate a policy based on recommendations of the Land Resource Registry and to determine what crops are suitable for the kind of soil available. A water audit will be conducted in every village and a “Jalagrama Calendar” will be prepared. Based on the findings, a master plan will be prepared for the construction of vented dams in the coastal region across the rivers of the western ghats. The government has allocated Rs 500 crore for the construction of the Kalasa-Banduri canal across the Malaprabha river, a tributary of Mahadayi, to address the issues of farmers in northern Karnataka. Rs 1,500 crore has also been allocated for the Yettinahole project that aims to bring water from the coastal areas to parched southern districts of Karnataka.
Body 2:
from Karnataka https://ift.tt/3csks7f
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment