Chandigarh,
\nThe Congress returned to power in Punjab by promising the moon to the state\u2019s lakhs of farmers. Besides a complete loan waiver, the party had promised<\/p>\n
subsidised farm machinery to unemployed youth so that they become \u201cagripreneurs\u201d, loans to cooperative sugar mills, prohibit \u201ckurki\u201d and sale of land<\/p>\n
mortgaged to lending agencies, and raising the compensation for crop loss from Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000 per acre.<\/p>\n
Reality bites
\nSome of these initiatives were announced by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal in his Budget proposals for 2017-18. One year into the government, but<\/p>\n
nothing worth mentionable was done. Of Rs 1,500 crore earmarked for crop loan waiver, relief worth only Rs 330 crore has been given till date. The scheme for<\/p>\n
providing 25,000 tractors at subsidised rates has not taken off and the cooperative sugar mills are still struggling to clear their dues of two years.<\/p>\n
There is also no sign of the Punjab State Agriculture Insurance Corporation that was promised to be set up.<\/p>\n
The only achievement of the Congress government in the agriculture sector has been the start of the crop loan waiver scheme, even if only 22 per cent of the<\/p>\n
allotted sum has been spent. It was only two days back that the state government released Rs 42.86 crore to be paid as compensation to farmers for crop loss,<\/p>\n
although the enhanced compensation is yet to see the light of day.<\/p>\n
Schemes hit
\nAlmost all agriculture schemes, most important among them being the Rashtriya Kisan Vikas Yojana (RKVY) were hit this year because the cash-strapped<\/p>\n
government could not provide the matching grants. With the Irrigation Department being caught in a huge scam, nothing was done to reline old channels. Other<\/p>\n
than in the Budget proposals, there was no talk on canalisation of state\u2019s rivers and creating high-speed economic corridors along these.<\/p>\n
Outlay up, but spending down<\/p>\n
Figures available with The Tribune show that the government had increased the total budget outlay for the farm sector by 65 per cent over 2016-17, to Rs<\/p>\n
10,580 crore. Of this, Rs 1,500 crore was for crop loan waiver and Rs 7,665 crore for power subsidy. In effect, only Rs 1,420 crore was to be used for<\/p>\n
agriculture research and education, soil and water conservation and irrigation. Just as the actual outlay was just 15 per cent of the projected outlay, the<\/p>\n
spending, too, was much less.<\/p>\n
\u2018Poised for farm boost\u2019
\nManpreet told The Tribune that his government had performed much better on the agriculture sector than the previous government. \u201cWe had both bumper crops<\/p>\n
\u2014 wheat and paddy \u2014 which helped infuse Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore in the state\u2019s agrarian economy. The fact that the government ensured a<\/p>\n
smooth procurement helped in this additional infusion. Since most schemes are centrally sponsored, we faced certain problems. But next year will be much<\/p>\n
better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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