|
There is a paradigm shift to agriculture and the rural sector in the Union Budget 2005-06.
While recognising agriculture as the backbone of the nation’s economy, past budgets have not done anything substantial as the current one presented by Finance Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram.
The features and proposals regarding the farm sector and rural development clearly reflect the spirit of the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA government.
Apart from treating agriculture as some sort of a holy cow that cannot be brought under the income tax net, successive budgets have failed to address areas of concern in the farm sector. One such area is the export subsidy that is measly for the Indian farmer compared to liberal subsidies enjoyed by farmers in USA and the European Union nations. This lapse has put the Indian farmer in a disadvantaged position in the global market. He has had to wait for the WTO rules to compensate him, though in a minimal way.
Well, the budget 2005-06 has certainly made some bold initiatives in the farm sector. A section of the media has hailed it as the “best deal” for the rural sector in keeping with the spirit of `Bharat Nirman’ that has six components of irrigation, roads, water supply, housing, rural electrification and rural telecom connectivity. Government believes that it is an achievable project by 2009 with the cooperation of the Panchayati Raj Institutions in its implementation.
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
Predictably, the allocation for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has been substantially increased to Rs. 11,000 crore. A legislation, Rural Employment Guarantee Act, is being enacted in Parliament for the purpose. The Act will be the social safety net for the poorest in the rural areas. The rural poor normally migrate to urban areas during dry, non-farming session. This leads to break-up of families, disruption of and even end of education for the children. In short there is rural unrest and frustration. Under the Scheme, government is to implement the food for work programme in 500 identified, sensitive districts where the rural folks would be given jobs, thus eliminating the need of migration. The scheme, in sum aims at restoring rural harmony. We have skilled hands in rural areas and it would be better to include them in the scheme so that the employment generated goes beyond the restricted 100 days and the works may cover agro-processing, on-farm processing, embroidery, weaving and printing. Altogether, agriculture and allied activities get Rs 6,425 crore, up 34 per cent from the previous figure of Rs 4,799 crore.
R&D in Horticulture
Horticulture, where India has immense potential. gets Rs 630 crore. The allocation is to be used for research and development to devise appropriate technology to eliminate post-harvest waste of vegetables and fruits, estimated to be a colossal rupees ten thousand crore annually. With diverse agro-climatic zones India is home to a mind-boggling variety of fruits and vegetables. India’s food processing industries should take the pride of place in the global market if it could profitably use all the fruits and vegetables it produces. This will help particularly the small and marginal farmers who engage in horticulture cultivation season to season.
Increased allocation for National Rural Health Mission
There is a significant increase of Rs. 1,860 crore for the health sector in the budget proposals for the year 2005-06. The increase will finance the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to be launched in the next fiscal.
It would focus on strengthening primary health care through grassroots-level public health interventions based on community ownership. Training of health volunteers, providing more medicines and strengthening the primary and community health care system are some important components of the mission. The total allocation for the Departments of Health and Family Welfare has been hiked from Rs. 8,420 crore to Rs. 10,820 crore.
Tax on Tobacco Products
The Health sector also demanded levying of a tax on goods that were health hazards similar to the education cess that had been widely applauded. “What better way is there to fund health care than tax those goods which are health hazards,” Chiadmbaram quipped as he announced his proposal to increase the specific rate of cigarettes by 10 per cent and impose a surcharge of 10 per cent on ad valorem duties on other tobacco products, including gutka, chewing tobacco, snuff and pan masala. The proceeds from this will finance the National Rural Health Mission.
National Rural Health Mission on Anvil
It is proposed to address the unmet health needs of rural India by launching the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in the next financial year. The mission will focus on strengthening primary healthcare through grassroots level public health interventions based on community interventions. Over a period of seven years, the mission would strive to improve basic health care for the common man through better immunisation, child and maternal healthcare and control of diseases through preventive and curative measures. The allocation for the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) Programme has been increased from Rs. 710 crore to Rs. 1,380 crore. This programme aims to strengthen and re-orient the services provided under the Family Welfare Programme.
Water Resources
Water resources, including enhancing supply of potable drinking water and sanitation facilities in rural habitations, have received the special attention in the budget proposals for 2005-06. The outlay for the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit programme (AIBP) has been enhanced from Rs. 2,800 crore in the revised budget estimate for 2004-05 to Rs. 4,800 crore. Budgetary support has also been assured for the Baglihar Hydropower Project in the Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. At the same time, the Plan outlay for flood management and erosion control has been set at Rs. 180 crore. Besides, an additional allocation of Rs. 52 crore has been made for the Farakka Barrage Project.
A sum of Rs. 100 crore has been set aside for the national project on renovation and restoration of water bodies to be launched in March this year. The pilot project is planned for 16 districts in nine States and will cover nearly 700 water bodies. About 20,000 hectares of additional land will come under irrigation through this initiative. This is in addition to promoting micro-irrigation and the creation of assured irrigation of one-crore hectares over five years through wetland/dryland farming for generation of employment for an additional one crore people at the rate of one person per hectare.
With all drinking water schemes under the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, emphasis would be on enhancing coverage in addition to bringing 31,355 rural habitations under the project. Attention would also be given to tackling water quality in about 2.16 lakh habitations in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, West Bengal and some other States. The outlay for the Mission has been hiked from Rs. 3,300 crore in the current year to Rs. 4,750 crore next year.
For sanitation coverage, which has been “critically’’ deficient, with only 30 per cent of the rural households having access to safe sanitation facilities, the Government proposes to allocate Rs. 630 crore for the next year. The coverage of the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) is proposed to be enhanced to all districts from 452 at present.
Best Deal for Rural India
Rural India gets the best deal in the budget today. In keeping with the spirit of ‘Bharat Nirman’ and PURA (providing urban facilities in rural areas), conceptualised by the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the focus of the budget is on rural development. While ‘Bharat Nirman’ has been conceived as a business plan for building infrastructure, especially in rural India, PURA aims at finding possible solutions to a number of problems that afflict the villages such as unemployment, isolation from markets, lack of connectivity and migration to cities.(PIB Features)
*Freelance Writer
|
