Many sops for farmers in BSY’s ‘agriculture budget’ by Johnson TA

The B S Yeddyurappa government rolled out a whole new slew of populist schemes in its 2011-12 revenue surplus Budget on Thursday, targeting an increase in the number of ‘direct beneficiaries’, especially in the agriculture sector. New schemes announced in Yeddyurappa’s Budget include a provision of Rs 10,000 each to 10 lakh small farmers in dry lands, reduction of interest rates on co-operative bank loans from three to one per cent, and regularisation of one lakh unauthorised irrigation pump sets at a cost of Rs 100 crore.

The new schemes are expected to push the numbers of ‘direct beneficiaries’ of government sops over a currently estimated figure of 1.84 crore of the nearly 6 crore population in the state.

In what is being seen as a political gimmick,Yeddyurappa unbundled the agriculture component from the regular Budget and presented it as the first-ever ‘exclusive agriculture Budget’.

The Budget aims to significantly push the growth of agriculture sector with a 52 per cent increase in allocation to agriculture, irrigation and allied sectors from Rs 11,000 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 17,857 crore in the current Budget.

“Agriculture sector has the potential to generate more jobs in the rural area. We need to make use of this effectively to prevent migration of rural people in search of jobs to urban areas,” Yeddyurappa said. The new ‘direct beneficiaries’ schemes add to existing ones such as the Rs 3,900 crore free power for irrigation pump sets, Rs 1,930 crore for social security pension, and Rs 950 crore as food subsidy.

Opposition leader Siddaramaiah has termed Yeddyurappa’s Budget ‘unrealistic’. “The government has in recent years fallen short of its projected outlay. This year till January they have spent only Rs 16,000 crore out of a projected Rs 31,000 crore.”