Under the pillar of Inclusive Development for Aspirational India, the Finance Minister announced to cover Agriculture and Allied sectors, farmers’ welfare and rural India, migrant workers and labour, and financial inclusion.
Agriculture
- Ensured MSP at minimum 1.5 times the cost of production across all commodities.
- SWAMITVA Scheme to be extended to all States/UTs, 1.80 lakh property-owners in 1,241 villages have already been provided cards
- Agricultural credit target enhanced to Rs. 16.5 lakh crore in FY22 – animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries to be the focus areas
- Rural Infrastructure Development Fund to be enhanced to Rs. 40,000 crore from Rs. 30,000 crore
- To double the Micro Irrigation Fund to Rs. 10,000 crore
- ‘Operation Green Scheme’ to be extended to 22 perishable products, to boost value addition in agriculture and allied products
- Around 1.68 crore farmers registered and Rs. 1.14 lakh crore of trade value carried out through e-NAMs; 1,000 more mandis to be integrated with e-NAM to bring transparency and competitiveness.
- APMCs to get access to the Agriculture Infrastructure Funds for augmenting infrastructure facilities
Fisheries
- The Finance Minister proposed substantial investments in the development of modern fishing harbours and fish landing centres.
- To start with5 major fishing harbours – Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat to be developed as hubs of economic activity
- Multipurpose Seaweed Park in Tamil Nadu to promote seaweed cultivation
Migrant Workers and Labourers
- Government has launched the One Nation One Ration Card scheme through which beneficiaries can claim their rations anywhere in the country.
- One Nation One Ration Card plan is under implementation by 32 states and UTs, reaching about 69 crore beneficiaries – that’s a total of 86% beneficiaries covered.
- The remaining 4 states and UTs will be integrated in the next few months.
- Government proposes to conclude a process that began 20 years ago, with the implementation of the 4 labour codes.
- For the first time globally, social security benefits will extend to gig and platform workers. Minimum wages will apply to all categories of workers, and they will all be covered by the Employees State Insurance Corporation.
- Women will be allowed to work in all categories and also in the night-shifts with adequate protection.
- At the same time, compliance burden on employers will be reduced with single registration and licensing, and online returns.
Financial Inclusion
To further facilitate credit flow under the scheme of Stand Up India for SCs, STs, and women, the Finance Minister proposed to reduce the margin money requirement from 25% to 15%, and to also include loans for activities allied to agriculture. Moreover, a number of steps were taken to support the MSME sector and in this Budget, Government has provided Rs. 15,700 crore to this sector – more than double of this year’s BE.
Source: PIB
