Budget@24: Free ration for a year, push to the farm sector
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: With global geopolitical, economic, and Covid uncertainties persisting, and ahead of crucial elections to the nine Vidhan Sabhas and the Lok Sabha in the months ahead, the government on Wednesday extended free ration support to the urban and rural poor for another year.
In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the extension of the central food grain scheme, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), by another year, from February 1, 2023.
The latest extension, which will cost Rs 2 lakh crore (Rs. two trillion), shows the Centre expects elevated levels of food vulnerability and rural poverty to continue in 2023.
It will provide nearly 800 million people with five kg of free wheat or rice per person per month, along with one kg of free whole chana per family per month. This is over and above the regular monthly entitlements under the National Food Security Act, 2013.
“We ensured that no one goes to bed hungry with a scheme to supply free food grain for 28 months,” Sitharaman said. The government’s total financial implication for the scheme has been about Rs 3.91 trillion until now.
Under the welfare scheme, five kg of food grain per person per month is provided free to all beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, and Priority Households, including those covered under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
The latest extension to the scheme will be its seventh phase. Phases 1 and 2 had run for eight months, from April 2020 to November 2020. Phases 3 to 5 ran for 11 months from May 2021 to March 2022 while Phase 6 ran for six months from April 2022 to September 2022.
Sitharaman also made a slew of announcements for the farming sector. She said an Agriculture Accelerator Fund will be launched to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs. Also, she hiked the agri credit target by Rs 20 trillion.
“The agricultural credit target will be increased to Rs 20 trillion with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries,” she said. Last year, the government increased the agricultural credit target to Rs 18 trillion for the 2022-23 fiscal from Rs 16.50 trillion the year before.
Sitharaman said the Centre will encourage 10 million farmers to take up natural farming.
Also, a Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture will be built as an open source, open standard, interoperable public good. It will enable inclusive farmer-centric solutions and help improve access to farm inputs, market intel, and support for the agriculture industry, and startups, she said.
PM PRANAM will also be launched to incentivize states and UTs to use alternative fertilizers.
