Farmers believe that the amount given under PM Kisan is very less.
Union Budget 2021-22 Expectations for Agriculture Sector: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the budget for the next financial year 2021-22 on February 1. On this budget, people from industries keep an eye on what they have got. This time in the budget, the expectations of the farmers are also connected and they also have some demands like that the amount given under PM Kisan is not enough and should be increased. Apart from this, the farmers were hopeful of a policy in the budget that would fetch reasonable prices for their crops and they would benefit from the decision of import-export.
Talking about budgetary allocation, it has increased for agriculture-related activities. The budget estimate (BE) for the financial year 2019-20 was around Rs 1.51 lakh crore, which increased to about Rs 1.54 lakh crore in the next financial year 2020-21. Apart from this, the allocation for rural development has also been increased to Rs 1.44 lakh crore in 2020-21 as compared to about Rs 1.40 lakh crore in 2019-20. Under PM Agricultural Irrigation Scheme, it has been increased from 9682 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 11,127 crore in 2020-21 and from PM 14 thousand crore in 2019-20 under PM Crop Insurance Scheme to Rs 15,695 crore in 2020-21.
Hope on import and export of agricultural products
According to Rajendra Sharma, General Secretary of Azadpur Mandi Potato Onion Merchant Association (POMA), the biggest problem of farmers is not getting the right price for their crops. He gave the example of potato and onion. Last year in 2020, to stop the rising prices of potatoes and onions, the central government had decided to import 15,000 tonnes of potatoes and 15,000 tonnes of onions from abroad through NAFED. However, according to Rajendra Sharma, it was a late decision by the government because by that time Indian stock had also started reaching the mandis. According to Rajendra Sharma, the central government should announce the formation of an expert committee in the budget that can make an accurate assessment of the actual situation of the crops and take the decision to import on time. The biggest benefit from this will be that the prices of Indian products will not fall if they bring agricultural products from abroad at the wrong time. Apart from this, this committee will also advise the government on exports.
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MSP should be available for small farmers
Currently farmers are agitating. One of their main demands is that the minimum support amount (MSP) be given a legal guarantee. This means that if a businessman tried to compel the farmers to buy the crop under the MSP after getting the legal guarantee, action can be taken against them. According to Rajendra Sharma, the government should guarantee MSP for small farmers and farmers with land above a certain limit (ie big farmers) can be excluded from it because they are more efficient and give their crops a fair price. But can also be sold outside. According to Sharma, firstly small farmers should be given the benefit of MSP.
Great announcement on PM Kisan
The central government sends farmers Rs 6 thousand annually in three installments to their account under PM Kisan. However, Sharma says that the needs of farmers cannot be met from Rs 6 thousand, ie Rs 500 per month. The expenses of manure, seeds etc. cannot be met in such a small amount.
Madhusudan Shukla, a farmer and PM Kisan of Pariwan village in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district, said that it costs about Rs 3-3.5 thousand to harvest paddy in 1 bigha and about Rs 2-2.5 thousand to get wheat crop it happens. In such a situation, for farmers with more land, six thousand rupees is very less assistance. According to Madhusudan Shukla, the government should give assistance amount based on the size of the land under the PM Kisan.
6 thousand rupees every year in the account of farmers
While presenting the budget for the financial year 2019-20, the Finance Minister announced the PM Kisan Yojana in the budget itself. Under this scheme, it was said to give 6 thousand rupees annually to the farmers’ account. This scheme was started on December 1, 2018 and under this, thrice a year, the central government sends six thousand as an installment of two thousand rupees annually to the farmers’ account. This benefit is given to small and marginal farmer families who have less than 2 hectares of land. Under this scheme, money is sent to the account during the period April-July, August-November and December-March. According to the information given on the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi website, there are 11.47 crore beneficiaries of this scheme.