In Maharashtra, 45.2 per cent of land holdings of farmers are up to 2 hectares, but the majority of such holdings are in the relatively prosperous region of western Maharashtra.The Centre’s decision to provide an assured income of Rs 6,000 per annum for small and marginal farmers, who have land holdings of up to 2 hectares, has been criticised alike by farmers and farmer leaders from Maharashtra.
While presenting the interim Budget on Friday, Union minister Piyush Goyal announced a scheme called Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan), under which farmers with cultivable land up to 2 hectares would be provided direct income support of Rs 6,000 per year.
However, Swabhimani Paksha MP Raju Shetti slammed the move and said it was a “cruel joke” played on farmers. “Over the last two years, wholesale price of each and every agricultural commodity has been below the government declared Minimum Support Price. As a result, farmers have landed deeper in debt. What will this pittance of an amount do,” he asked.
He pointed out that the scheme has been announced months before the Lok Sabha election, and may be “corrected” by the government that comes to power next. “This is clearly a move to placate farmers who are angry with the government…but it will not have much effect,” he said.
In Maharashtra, 45.2 per cent of land holdings of farmers are up to 2 hectares, but the majority of such holdings are in the relatively prosperous region of western Maharashtra. Farmers in drought-prone regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada have larger land holdings, and they will not get any benefits from the scheme.
Santosh Gorade, a farmer from Takli village in Niphad taluka of Nashik, said it would have been better if the government had not announced the scheme. “Over the last one year, onion prices have touched rock bottom. We have not been able to repay our bank loans and we had hoped for a scheme to mitigate the crisis, but there was nothing in the Budget…,” he said.
Gorade said because of the low prices of their produce, most farmers in Nashik region were likely to default on their loans this year. “There was no mention of the implementation of the recommendations of the MS Swaminathan Committee in the Budget,” he said.
The Swaminathan Committee has recommended that farmers should realise 1.5 times of their production cost.
Deepak Bhise, a farmer from the village of Yedgaon in Pune’s Junnar taluka, also criticised the move. “By raising the price of fertilisers and other agricultural inputs, the government has already increased the expenditure borne by farmer. This move is not even worth peanuts for us,” he said.
