By Manali Joshi
The government recently discussed with agriculture experts and stakeholders practical solutions for doubling farmers’ income by 2022 which will be presented before Prime Minister Narendra Modi the following day. The final session will be attended by the Prime Minister wherein he will be addressing the farmers issues, discussing initiatives that should be taken to improve the present scenario and build recommendations that will benefit the government?s inter-panel on doubling farmers income. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh was called for suggesting certain solutions which are feasible to transform the farm sector from production centric to income centric.
Government’s new agenda
With the same motive, the government has enhanced budget allocation for the agricultural sector to Rs 58,080 crore for the 2018-19 fiscal, from Rs 51,576 crore in 2017-18, in order to facilitate funding for different schemes and programs aimed at raising farmers income. The central government in the 2018-19 Budget also announced fixing of MSP to 1.5 times higher than the cost of production in order to improve and sustain the revenue of the farmers.
The conference deliberated on seven themes namely, agriculture policy and reforms for higher and sustained farmers income; trade policy; marketing and agri-logistics; R&D and startups in agriculture; capital investments and institutional credit; promotion of allied farm activities like dairy and poultry; sustainable and equitable development and efficient delivery of services.
Along with, Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Devvrat, Junior Agriculture Ministers Parshottam Rupala Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar, and Agriculture Secretary S K Pattanayak, senior officials from the central and state governments, scientists, economists, trade industry, professional associations, representatives of corporate and private sector companies & farmers, NGOs and academics were present at the event.
The motivation behind the step?
Last year on 28th August, looking at the aggravated distress of farmers and the increase rate of suicides, the Centre told the Supreme Court that it aims to double the income of farmers by 2022 to tackle the ever growing issue.?Due to a sharp fall in prices of most agricultural commodities like pulses and oilseeds as a result of bumper crop led to a lot of suicides by the farmers. Moreover, the statistics show that there has been a decline in the growth of agriculture and allied sectors to 2.1% in 2017 from 4.7% in 2016. The Center submitted to the Court that the key solution to the issues of suicides and farmers living below poverty line being an increase in income, the government will try its best to attain the solution.
To achieve the target, the government took various initiatives, first being; department of agriculture, cooperation, and farmers’ welfare constituted an inter-ministerial committee to examine various dimensions of farmers’ income and to recommend an appropriate strategy. The committee was formed in the furtherance of reviving the National Policy for Farmers (NPF), 2007 Scheme which aimed at implementing and promoting the scheme to reduce the cost of cultivation in order to realize net positive returns for farmers. This initiative was taken in the PIL filed by Punjab-based NGO Youth Kamal Organization, seeking steps to prevent farmers’ suicides.
The government also started and strived (rather it is still striving) to implement schemes such as National Food Security Mission (NFSM), National Mission for Oilseed and Oil Palm (NMOOP), Mission of Integrated Development for Horticulture (MIDH), National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology (NMAET) and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for the benefit of the farmers.?
In 2016, it also started Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, which aimed to address agricultural risks and shortcomings in earlier schemes. It ensured full insurance cover to the farmers at all stages. It covered 390 lakh farmers and 386.75-hectare area with crop revenue of Rs. 1,41,883 crore during Kharif season of 2016. However, it failed to attain the same success in 2017. It also referred to its Kisan Credit Card scheme under which a farmer could purchase agricultural inputs and draw cash to fulfil their consumption needs. However the same did not work beyond a year.
Why are we still nowhere with our goals?
Despite so many schemes started and plans made, the Indian government is far behind in creating a harmonious and prosperous society. The reasons are usually; inefficiency of government in implementation and lack of awareness among people. Indian government?s intention to provide assistance to poor and their upliftment is clear, but at the implementation, the part government fails. The reason of inefficiency can be attributed to improper monitoring, lack of accountability, corruption and misalignment of incentives and secondly people are absolutely unaware of the schemes started or the roadmap to be followed to avail the benefit of the Scheme. Hence, it is hoped that the 2 days session would involve a holistic approach and solutions to the prevalent problems and loopholes is arrived, in order to address the issue as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Featured image source: Wikimedia Commons
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