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(GIST OF KURUKSHETRA) Blueprint for Sustained Growth in Rural India

(SEPTEMBER-2024)

Blueprint for Sustained Growth in Rural India

Context:

According to the Economic Survey 2022-23, 65 percent of India’s population lives in rural areas and agriculture is the main source of livelihood for 47 percent of the population. In rural India, illiteracy, caste issue, gender discrimination, limited access of farmers to the market, shortage of grain storage, dominance of middlemen, lack of financial awareness, etc. are persisting, and non-availability of health infrastructure, drinking water, communication system, electricity, etc. are making this situation worse. Today, farmers are not able to earn enough income for their livelihood from farming.

The Theme of Budget and Way Forward

The theme of this year’s budget is poor, women, youth and farmers and accordingly, emphasis has been laid on making the agriculture sector production-oriented, accelerating employment generation, empowering women, etc.
To accelerate the pace of development, it is proposed to work towards ensuring development in construction, manufacturing & service sector. There is also a need to ensure energy efficiency, reinforcement innovation and research in rural and urban areas.

Budgetary Provisions to Ensure Sustainable Growth

A provision of Rs. 86,000/- crore has been made in the budget for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), under which adult members of each family willing to work will be provided employment for 100 days.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the government will provide central assistance of Rs. 2.2 lakh crore in the next 5 years to build houses at affordable rates. The government will also invest Rs. 10 lakh crore for boosting this sector.
With this initiative, the poor and lower middle class will be able to get their own house at an affordable rate. It is noteworthy that villagers can be brought into the mainstream only when they have a house, means of livelihood, education and health facilities.

Emphasis on Skill Upgradation

The Government has planned to provide internship to 1 crore youth in the top 500 companies of the country in the next 5 years. During this period, they will be given a stipend of Rs. 5,000/- every month. This initiative will provide an opportunity to the youth to understand and learn the working of companies occupied in various sectors, which will help them in finding employment or starting self-employment.

Broadening the Scope of the Organised Sector

The Government will give Rs. 15,000/- in three instalments to the youth who get a job for the first time in the organised sector. According to an estimate, 2.1 crore youth will benefit from this arrangement. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will give employee-linked incentives to both the youth who get a job for the first time and the companies for the first four years.
Currently, the Government is giving incentives to companies for increasing production under the product-linked scheme in the manufacturing sector, which is benefiting both industrial establishments and their employees.
This initiative of the government will surge the number of workers in the organised sector, which will make it easier for maximum number of youth to get the benefits of Government initiatives in the long run.

Total Receipts and Estimated Reduction in Fiscal Deficit

The Government can provide adequate funds for various sectors in the budget only when it has adequate receipts. For this, it collects revenue and tries to reduce expenditure on non-essential items. The budget estimates revenue collection of Rs. 43.86 lakh crore including Rs. 11.87 lakh crore from income tax, Rs. 10.62 lakh crore from goods and services tax (GST) and Rs. 10.20 lakh crore from corporation tax and proposes to borrow Rs. 16.91 lakh crore to meet other expenses, will taking the total reserves with the government to Rs. 60.71 lakh crore.

Provisions for the Agriculture Sector

To strengthen the agriculture sector, a provision of Rs. 1.52 lakh crore has been made in the budget for agriculture and allied sector, out of which Rs. 60,000 crore has been allocated for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi.
In this way, agriculture-focused budgetary provision of Rs. 92,000/- crore has been made, but with this the Government has indirectly made many such provisions, which will brace the rural sector.
Bio-research has many benefits, such as, it will reduce the use of pesticides, reduce soil erosion, animal waste can be used in the fields as manure, etc. Therefore, it has been proposed to set up 10,000 bio- research centres in the budget.
Kisan Credit Card (KCC) was introduced in 1998 to provide credit to farmers based on their land holdings, so that farmers can easily buy seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, etc. Due to the great success of this scheme; KCC will be issued in 5 more states on extensive basis, where it is still not distributed among eligible farmers, so that farmers deprived of this facility can take advantage of this.
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) will be implemented in the agriculture sector to make farmers and their land a part of the digital network within three years. DPI creates a physical network, which is necessary for people to connect with each other and access various types of goods and services.
National Cooperation Policy will increase opportunities for banks to enter into loan agreements with co-operative societies. In this case, banks can increase the portfolio of Agri loans by entering into agreements with Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), cooperative societies and Agri startups.

Conclusion

To continue the development in the rural areas, it is necessary to ensure the availability of basic facilities like roads, electricity, health, education, drinking water, etc. as well as to remove gender and caste inequality in the rural area. From this point of view, apart from a direct provision of Rs. 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors, many provisions such as MGNREGA, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Samagra Shiksha, National Health Mission etc. and provision of subsidy for Urea, Pradhan Mantri Anna Kalyan Yojana, etc., will help in ensuring sustainable development in rural India.