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| Agriculture gets a raw deal |
| Komal Amit Gera / New Delhi/ Chandigarh Mar 11, 2010, 00:53 IST |
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The annual state budget presented by Haryana Finance Minister Captain Ajay Singh Yadav in Chandigarh today did not have much for the farming community.
Out of the total budget outlay of an estimated Rs 33,600 crore, the agriculture and allied activities have been allocated Rs 1,073.62 crore (Rs 540.66 crore on plan side and Rs 532.96 crore on the non-plan side) during 2010-11.
The state, which is likely to achieve the target production of 167.14 lakh tonnes despite a delayed monsoon, did not reward its farmers with any special incentives.
The impact of revision in price of diesel by Rs 2.55 per litre would affect the farmers, who mainly run their tubewells on captive power, the Opposition leaders said, adding this should have been compensated.
No scheme has been introduced for recharging of groundwater in rural areas, which is a must to contain the falling water table.
Due to the falling water table, the investments of the farmers have gone up as they had to replace the centrifugal tubewells with the submersible pump sets that cost four times higher.
The members of the Bharatiya Janata Party said the imposition of VAT would aggravate the inflation and the budget was neither business-friendly nor farmer-friendly.
They added that the budget did not have anything on the SYL (Satluj-Yojna-Link) canal that could prove lifeline to the farmers of Haryana.
The Hansi-Bhutana link that was to get water in 2008 did not have any mention in the budget.
The members of the Opposition parties asserted that the consistent revision in the prices of food items made it imperative to streamline the public distribution system and distribute essential food items for above poverty line (APL) families through a government distribution mechanism.
The Opposition parties also refused to endorse the PPP model for repair and upgrade of existing infrastructure as the state departments, according to them, had both funds and manpower to carry out the operations.
BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS
# In order to facilitate urban local bodies with better fund mobilisation, a surcharge of 0.25 per cent to 0.7 per cent on different value-added tax slabs
# The surcharge on VAT would provide the state an additional revenue of Rs 300 crore
# Greater devolution of funds under the 13th Finance Commission, from Rs 8,l040.44 crore to Rs 19,470 crore this year
# Proposal to set up Haryana Infrastructure Development Board to execute projects through the PPP model
# Fiscal deficit of the state estimated at 3.59 per cent of GSDP in 2010-11
# No major announcement for agriculture sector |
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