This budget should prioritise the need of Indian agriculture; lower estimated expenditures will not be sufficient to meet the demands arising out of the economic distress ailing the agricultural sector. (Express file photo by Jasbir Malhi)
Indian agriculture is characterised by small land holdings, increasing marginalisation of land, highly unequal growth across crops and regions, heavy monsoon-dependence, low infrastructural investment, and a very small class of accumulating large landowners. Moreover, the agricultural sector is inundated with informal and unregulated exchange. In these conditions, targeted state intervention becomes crucial not only to create a level playing field for the sector but also to support the lives and livelihoods of the millions dependent on it. The first budget of the newly formed coalition government at the Centre to be presented on July 23 will be an important indicator of the direction and priorities of government expenditure.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare was allocated Rs 1.27 lakh crore in the interim budget. This is an increase of merely 1.9 per cent over the previous year’s Budget Estimate and 0.6 per cent over the Revised Estimate for 2023-24. The share allocated to the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, which houses major schemes under the Ministry, as a proportion of the total budgeted expenditure has gone down consistently over the past four budgets, from 4.4 per cent in 2020-21 to 2.56 per cent in 2023-24. This declining trend was also followed in the interim budget presented this February. Budgeted allocation to the department was merely 2.47 per cent of the total budget in the interim budget 2024-25. Contraction in the share budgeted towards agriculture expenditure is a worrying phenomenon. This can potentially result in a shortage of funds for some of the most crucial interventions required to provide a boost to the sector. The budget presents an opportunity to reverse this disturbing trend. Substantial increase in the allocations can translate into commensurate availability of funds for flagship schemes under the ministry.
The budgetary allocation for Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), which has been hailed as the cornerstone of income support to farmers, was Rs 60,000 crore in 2023-24 and the same amount was allocated for the scheme in the interim budget. In the speech delivered during the presentation of the interim budget, the number of beneficiary farmers of this scheme had been pegged at 11.8 crore. Notably, the current allocations will fall short in providing Rs 6,000 annually as required by the scheme to the 11.8 crore beneficiaries. The budgeted allocation for another flagship scheme, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana seemed conservative to meet the demand for crop insurance in 2023-24. The revised estimates have overshot the budgeted allocations by 10 per cent in 2023-24.
The importance of state-led employment generation programmes in providing much needed succour to households engaged in manual labour as well as small farmers has been well established. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program has played a significant role in providing income security to rural households. There was a massive reduction of around 18 per cent in the budgetary allocations towards this scheme from Rs 73,000 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 60,000 crore in 2023-24. As expected, the revised estimates for 2023-34 have far outstripped the allocations that were budgeted by the government.
Major schemes need requisite budgetary support in order to improve agricultural incomes and alleviate prevailing rural distress in the country. A contraction in state support to agriculture and rural development at this juncture can worsen the precarious situation of millions and erode the negotiating power of our rural households. This budget should prioritise the need of Indian agriculture; lower estimated expenditures will not be sufficient to meet the demands arising out of the economic distress ailing the agricultural sector.
The writer teaches at Azim Premji University, Bhopal. Views are personal
