Maharashtra is likely to increase the annual farm outlay in the upcoming budget to better fight the menace of farmer suicides.
Senior officials in the state Finance Department said the government had missed providing for budgetary provisions under various schemes in 2016-17, including ₹35 crore under the Baliraja Chaitna Abhiyan. It could only provision ₹5 crore so far this year for the same.
But the budget to be presented on June 18 will make up for funds that were not realised due to technical glitches under some schemes.
Earlier, the interim budget presented for four months 2019-20 had made special provisions for the rural population, drought-like conditions, poor monsoon in 2018 and low prices of agriculture produce. The provisions are likely to be scaled up substantially this time, officials said.
“We have decided to keep an agri focus in the remainder of the budget to be presented the coming monsoon session. The provisions will be likely taken from the contingency fund to the tune of ₹1,000 crore,” said a senior official.
Maharashtra’s budget for the first four months of fiscal 2019-20 was presented with a revenue deficit of ₹19,784 crore. For fiscal 2019-20, revenue receipts of ₹3,14,489 crore and revenue expenditure of ₹3,34,273 crore were estimated.
With an eye on the upcoming Assembly polls, a total farm outlay of ₹10,000 crore to ₹15,000 crore will be proposed under various schemes, including water distribution works, work on micro-irrigation, wells and farm ponds and schemes for dredging reservoirs and waterways, senior officials said. “The finance minister in the interim budget had reiterated that the first right on the budget is that of the farmers and poor. In keeping with the thought, our focus this budget will be to fulfil promises made by the government to farmers,” said a senior BJP leader.
