DMK proposes Center have a separate agriculture budget, Government says does not need.
Asserting its commitment to farmers’ interests and farming, the government stated in Lok Sabha on Tuesday that there is no need for a separate agriculture budget.
In response to a question in the Lower House, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar stated that maintaining a separate budget for agriculture would serve neither the country nor the farmers.
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He was responding to DMK member T R Baalu’s questions on why the government does not consider presenting a separate budget for agriculture to solve farmers’ difficulties.
According to the DMK member, agriculture helped India ‘survive’ throughout the global slump. ‘In Tamil Nadu, our chief minister M K Stalin introduced a separate agriculture budget,’ he remarked.
In response to the DMK leader’s questions, the agricultural minister stated, ‘What he (Baalu) has recommended would naturally be accepted by everyone.’ He recalled that formerly, there was a separate budget for railways.
However, he stated that the government implemented reforms and combined the Railway Budget with the main budget.
‘If we analyze, we will notice a significant change in railway budget execution (since its merger with the main budget),’ Tomar said during Question Hour.
‘The budget, whether one or two, should have a purpose, enough provisions and commitment to achieve them,’ he stated.
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According to the minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is ‘totally dedicated’ to farmers’ interests and agriculture.
‘Having a separate budget for agriculture and withdrawing allocations from the main budget will help neither the country nor the farmers,’ he stated.
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