Does merging the income benefit schemes of the Centre and state governments with programmes such as the MGNREGA address the issues of small farmers? Examine (200 Words)
Refer - Indian Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
· India announced that relief-cum-stimulus package would be Rs 20 lakh crore, almost 10 per cent of India’s GDP.
· Farmers too have suffered losses because of the fall in farm prices, especially perishables. The government did promise Rs 2,000 per farm family from the PM-KISAN scheme, but this is only a reiteration of an earlier commitment.
· In this context, the Chhattisgarh government deserves compliments for launching the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana (RGKNY), an income transfer scheme at Rs 10,000/acre for paddy farmers and Rs 13,000/acre for sugarcane farmers.
· The Odisha government launched the KALIA scheme (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) on a somewhat similar pattern. West Bengal’s Krishak Bandhu and Jharkhand’s Mukhya Mantri Krishi Aashirwad Yojana are the other income support schemes worth mentioning.
· In large parts of the country, there is no record of tenancy. The government data shows only 10 per cent tenancy in the country while several micro-level studies indicate that it could be anywhere between 25-30 per cent.
· The other issue is identifying the landless labourers working on farms. Majority of them are temporary and seasonal workers, and leaving the task of identification to panchayats and patwaris can open doors for large leakages and corruption.
· The legal framework of the MGNREGA scheme does allow this on farms owned by people of SC/ST communities, and on the lands of marginal farmers.
· The time has come to think seriously about merging income support schemes, including the PM KISAN and state-level schemes, with the MGNREGA and price-subsidy schemes — food and fertiliser subsidies given by Centre and power subsidies given by state government.
· These schemes amount to Rs 5 lakh crore — that’s a good sum of money to start a basic income cover for poor households. Markets could then be left to operate freely. This approach can cover landless labourers, farmers, and poor consumers — these categories overlap.
Shivangi 5 years
Please review.
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good attempt. Keep Writing.
Sanjeev Kumar Singh 5 years
Kindly give feedback
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good attempt. Avoid listing out the points, elaborate them. Keep Writing.
DHARU 5 years
Kindly review... Thank-you
IAS Parliament 5 years
Try to include about the ownership of land , record of tenancy rights. Keep Writing.
aswin 5 years
Please give feedback.
IAS Parliament 5 years
Try to mention about the income benfit schemes of states, include about issue ownership of the land, record of tenancy rights. Keep Writing.
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