Budget 2016: Doubling our income in 5 years too good to be true, say farmers' union

CHANDIGARH: Farmer organisations say that Finance Minister Arun Jaitely’s statement that farm income will double over the next five years is too good to be true.

S Bhupinder Singh Mann, national president of Bharatiya Kisan Union and chairman of All-India Kisan Coordination Committee, said the statement is not accompanied by a roadmap for achieving this target.

He said the BJP had promised in its election manifesto that the Swaminathan Report would be implemented. However, immediately after coming to power, the Modi government submitted an affidavit before the Supreme Court that the recommendations of the report cannot be implemented. “This was the first betrayal by the Modi government,” he said.

“Now, again the finance minister has issued a vague statement that income of farmers will be doubled in the next five years,” he said.

Pointing out that Prime Minister Narender Modi had said at a farmers’ rally on Sunday that farm income will be doubled in six years, Mann said the different time frames is “proof that it is a non-serious statement”.

Mann said five years is a long time for curing the deep crisis, and by that time farm stress will eat up many lives of poor farmers. He said there is absolutely nothing in the short term which could be seen as a firefighting step to solve the problem. “It is like saying a heart patient with heart attack will have to wait for six years for treatment. The problem is now Mr FM” he said.

Mann pointed out that the Rs 15,000 crore set aside for debt relief of farmers is inadequate. Taking a dig at Jaitley, he said that if the government can waive off Rs 11,4000 crore for the corporate sector, a move that will benefit just a handful of rich people, why can’t the government think for the benefit of farmers who account for 60% of the population.

He welcomed the 0.5% ‘krishi kalyan’ cess, which is proposed to be used for financing initiatives for improvement of agriculture and welfare of farmers.

Mann also expressed apprehension about other schemes which are supposedly for farmers, alleging that they mostly end up being pocketed by the corporates through indirect means.