The Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing expressed concern over the dwindling budgetary share for sectors such as agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries. The panel, chaired by BJP MP Parvatagouda Chandanagouda Gaddigoudar, in its reports on the demands for grants for these Ministries, also questioned the Centre on the under-utilisation of funds allocated to various schemes and programmes.
On agriculture, the panel noted that the Union Agriculture Ministry had admitted in its replies that the proportion of budgetary allocations it received in terms of the percentage out of the total Budget of the Centre during 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 stood at 4.41%, 3.53%, 3.14 % and 2.57%, respectively. The panel recommended: “The total Budget outlay of the Centre in 2020-21 was ₹ 30,42,230.09 crore, which increased to ₹45,03,097.45 crore in 2023-24. Taking into account the prominent role played by agriculture in rural livelihood, employment generation and food security of the country, the Committee recommend the Department to take up the issue of budgetary allocation in percentage terms out of Central Pool with the Ministry of Finance and ensure that trend is reversed from the next Budget onwards.”
Similarly, the panel said the percentage share of budgetary allocations to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying also declined from 0.12% in 2020-21 to 0.10% in 2023-24 and from 0.09% in 2020-21 to 0.08% in 2022-23 at the revised estimate stage. The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of the sector, according to the Ministry, is 8%. “The Committee further notes that as per the Economic Survey, 2022-23, allied sectors, i.e. the Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries sectors have registered a higher growth compared to the crop sector and are also being recognised as emerging sectors based on their performance and growth,” the panel said, adding that the constant reduction in the share of the department directly impacted the performance of schemes.
It said despite repeated requests for enhancing the budgetary allocation at the higher level, no positive response had so far been received from the Ministry of Finance, and the panel urged the Finance Ministry to ensure that future allocations towards this sector were commensurate with the contributions of the sector to the national economy.
Considering the underutilisation of funds by the Fisheries Department, the panel recommended that the department should coordinate with the Ministry of Finance for the relaxation of the fund release guidelines specifically for the fisheries sector since most of the activities are undertaken after the monsoon. “The Committee also suggest that if need be, the earlier system of release of funds on basis of 50:50 in two instalments may be considered, so that optimum level of utilisation of funds may take place,” the report said.
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