Congress Criticizes Union Budget 2024-25, Claims Farmers Received a “Raw Deal”

The Congress party on Tuesday claimed that India’s farmers have been shortchanged in the Union Budget for 2024-25, criticizing the government for ignoring crucial demands such as granting legal status to Minimum Support Price (MSP) and providing a farm loan waiver.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an allocation of ₹1.52 lakh crore for the agriculture and allied sectors. However, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh argued that this allocation is insufficient and a downgrade from previous years.

“The Agriculture and Allied Budget – which affects a majority of the country’s population – is only 3.15% of the total Budget, down from 5.44% in 2019-2020. This is after a year of bad monsoons dragged down agricultural growth from 4.7% in 2022-23 to 1.4% in 2023-24, necessitating greater government support for the sector,” Ramesh stated.

Ramesh pointed out that while the finance minister highlighted an increase in the MSP for crops earlier this year, the current prices still fall short of the recommendations made by the Swaminathan Commission Formula. “The demand for legal status for MSP has been met with stony silence – as has the demand for a farm loan waiver,” Ramesh said in a post on X.

In her budget speech, Sitharaman outlined a comprehensive plan to boost agricultural research, promote sustainable farming, enhance oilseed and pulse production, and integrate technology into the agricultural landscape. She emphasized the need for a thorough review of the agricultural research setup to enhance productivity and develop climate-resilient crop varieties.

Ramesh also criticized the government’s Employment-linked Incentives (ELIs) introduced in the budget, which he claimed were inadequately designed to address India’s employment challenges. “The ELIs for first-timers provides one-month wage to all persons newly entering the workforce in all formal sectors. This scheme misreads the challenges India faces on two accounts – India’s key challenge is the lack of availability of jobs. This scheme rewards those who are already lucky enough to get formal jobs,” Ramesh noted.

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He further argued that the scheme fails to address the needs of job-seekers who are unable to find employment, a group that urgently needs support. “India has faced difficulties ensuring that its women join the productive labor force. This scheme appears to be gender-blind, with no specific attention to women youth, and only rewards women who already find jobs. It fails to do anything to incentivize women to seek jobs,” Ramesh alleged.

Ramesh also pointed out flaws in the delivery mechanism of the ELIs for employers. “The INC had proposed delivering ELIs through tax credits, whereas the Budget delivers them through reimbursements for EPFO contributions. This delivery mechanism is effectively a subsidy on wages for these employed workers, whereas rebates on taxes would have been more compelling for firm owners and proprietors in encouraging hiring,” he explained.

(Aside from the headline, this story remains unaltered by the NewsX staff and has been shared directly from a syndicated source.)

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