Even as state Finance Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced measures to provide financial assistance to farmers on Thursday, the overall allocation to agriculture and allied activities in the Budget estimates 2023-24 declined by 26 per cent to Rs 23,301 crore. The revised estimates for the financial year 2022-23 amounted to Rs 31,528 crore, which had jumped sharply over the budget estimate of Rs 21,840 crore for FY'23. However, keeping an eye on rural voters, Fadnavis made an announcement on providing Rs 6,000 to every farmer on the lines of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. While the Economic Survey released on Wednesday estimated that agriculture and allied sector would grow at 10.2 per cent FY'23, to achieve the aim of double income and crop production in Maharashtra which has at least 14 drought-prone districts out of total 36, Fadnavis announced 'Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojna', on the lines of Centre's Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna. “The state government will provide an additional amount of Rs 6,000 per year along with Rs 6,000 per farmer per year from the central government. In this way, an amount of Rs 12,000 will be deposited in the farmer's account every year. This will benefit 1.15 crore farmer families. For this, an outlay of Rs 6,900 crore is proposed in 2023-24,” he said. As the allocation to agriculture and allied activities fell by 26 per cent, within that, the biggest drop was seen for food storage and warehouse. While the revised estimates of 2022-23 for food storage and warehouse was Rs 4,965 crore, the budget allocation for 2023-24 amounts to Rs 3,170 crore - a decline of 36 per cent. Meanwhile, in another decision to support farmers, the deputy CM announced that they will be exempted from insurance payment under the Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme, which is being implemented since 2016 by the central government. He said, “The insurance premium amount will be borne by the state government. Farmers can register on the Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Yojana portal by paying a nominal fee of Re 1. An annual outlay of Rs 3,312 crore will be made by the state government for this scheme.” Along with the bold populist decisions which are likely to have financial implications, the state government expressed its resolve to continue old schemes which were inclusive. The eligible farmers who are yet to get the benefit under the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Samman Yojana, which was launched in 2017, are being considered. During the MVA government, the same scheme was called Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Karj Mukti Yojna. The scheme entails debt exemption up to Rs 2 lakh, along with interest and principal amount, between 2015 and 2019. Till date, Rs 20,425 crore has been disbursed, benefitting 32 lakh farmers. According to Fadnavis, the farmers who regularly repay short-term crop loans have been given an incentive of up to Rs 50,000, which was announced in the last two budgets, but not distributed . Under this scheme, an amount of Rs 4,683 crore has been directly disbursed to the bank accounts of 12.84 lakh eligible account holders by the end of February 15, 2023. Through group farming that promises a sustainable income, a crop-based project plan at district/taluka, covering all aspects from production to value addition, has been proposed with an outlay of Rs 3,000 crore for next five years. Taking in view the financial crisis faced by paddy farmers, especially in eastern Vidarbha and Konkan region, an incentive of Rs 15,000 per hectare has been proposed in the budget.
