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Farm unions in the state have slammed the budget presented by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. In the absence of special budget allocation for legalising minimum support price (MSP) and waiving farmers’ loans, the unions are doubting the intention of the Centre before the scheduled talk with them on February 14. The farm unions criticised Sitharaman for keeping mum over the implementation of one of the main recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) whereby MSPs should be 50% more than the comprehensive cost of production.
ALSO READ | Income tax salary-wise details: How to calculate tax if salary is over ₹ 12.75 lakh Farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar of Samyukta Kisan Union (non-political) claimed that farmers were dejected with the Union Budget as the real issues concerning the farmer community had been ignored by the Union finance minister. “Sitharaman talked about the diversification of crops by giving impetus to increasing the production of pulses, cotton and oil seeds.
But the government should realise that diversification of crops is only possible if there is a legal guarantee of MSP on all crops. Last year, moong (green gram) was being procured far below the MSP announced by the Union government. Consequently, the farmers had to face huge losses.
Against the declared MSP of ₹ 8,682 per quintal, the crop was procured at ₹ 6,000 per quintal. The only solution to crop diversification is legalising the MSP,” said Kohar at the Khanauri protest site. ALSO READ | Thumbs up or down? How INDIA bloc reacted to Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2025 Reacting to the Union Budget, Sarwan Singh Pandher, convener of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, said that there was nothing in the budget to alleviate farmers’ distress faced by the farming sector.
Instead of waving farmers’ loans, the Union government increased the Kisan Credit card limit from ₹ 3 lakh to ₹ 5 lakh. “We are disappointed with the Union Budget. The agriculture sector has been ignored completely in the budget.
A new scheme, Dhan Dhanya Krishi Yojana, has been announced to focus on crop diversification and sustainable agriculture practices, but the scheme will not be able to make any change on the ground if MSP is not legalised. Legal teething to MSP is necessary for crop diversification,” said Pandher. ALSO READ | Budget 2025: What's cheaper and what's costlier Meanwhile, the Samyukta Kisan Union (SKM) said that there was no comprehensive scheme for loan waiver for the farmers and farm workers despite the recommendation of the parliamentary standing committee.
“Over the last two years, the scheduled commercial banks have written off loans to the corporates amounting to ₹ 2, 09,144 crore first year and ₹ 1, 70,000 crore second year. However, when farmers raise the issue of 31 farmers daily committing suicide in India due to debt, the Prime Minister prefers to keep mum,” said SKM in a press statement..
