Farmers leaders on Saturday criticised the Union Budget saying Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has “failed to give the much-needed healing touch” to the agriculture fraternity.
“There is no announcement to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pre-poll promise of farm loan waivers and giving minimum support prices as per a proposed formula of investment plus 50 percent returns...,” Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti President Kishore Tiwari said.
Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana President and MP Raju Shetti flayed the budget saying it had nothing for the farmers whose high hopes have been dashed.
“Where are the promised ‘achhe din’ for the farm community... this budget is very disappointing,” Mr. Shetti said.
Mr. Tiwari reiterated that the BJP’s pre-election promises are turning out to be kisan jumlas (empty poll promises) as there is no budgetary provision or plans to address the acute agrarian crisis with focus on credits, cost and crop pricing issues or measures to stop farmers suicides.
“More so since this year, Maharashtra has officially declared that 23,811 of 39,453, or 60 percent villages in the State, face the severest drought of the century, hitting more than 90 lakh farmers... The ruling NDA has sidelined the rural and agrarian crisis from its priority list, worsening the already bad conditions,” Mr. Tiwari said.