FM Sitharaman during reply to budget debate highlights fivefold increase in agriculture budget, job growth

New Delhi [India], July 30 : Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during her reply to the budget debate in Parliament on Tuesday, highlighted that the budget for farmers has increased by five times in 2024-25 compared to 2013-14.
She stated, "The budget allocation for the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare was only Rs 21,934 crore in 2013-14, but now it has increased to Rs 1.23 lakh crore in the budget for 2024-25. This is a five-time increase."
She also added that more than Rs 3.24 lakh crore has been disbursed to 11 crore farmers under the PM Kisan scheme since its launch. On the institutional credit targets for agriculture, the Finance Minister added that they have increased more than 2.5 times.
She said, "In 2014-15 it was Rs 8 lakh crore; now it has increased to Rs 20 lakh crore." The interest subsidy for farmers has also increased 2.4 times. She stated that in 2014-15 it was Rs 6,000 crore, and now it has increased to Rs 14,252 crore.
Sitharaman also highlighted that the number of small and marginal farmers availing of agricultural loans has increased from 57 percent in 2014 to 76 percent now.
On the MSP to farmers, the Finance Minister stated that the "National Commission on Farmers, M. S. Swaminathan, had recommended in 2006 that the Minimum Support Price should be at 50 percent more than the weighted average cost of production. This was not accepted by the UPA government."
She criticized the Congress on the MSP issue, saying, "The cabinet note which was drafted by the UPA government in July 2007 stated that MSP recommended by the CACP on objective criteria considering the variety of factors involved.
Therefore, setting an increase of at least 50 percent on the cost may cause distortion in the market." She also added that the UPA government, through the cabinet note, sidelined the M. S. Swaminathan report in 2007.
The Finance Minister further stated that the Congress said it would examine the feasibility of Direct Income Support to farmers, but PM Kisan Samman Nidhi was implemented by PM Modi in 2019. Attacking the Congress, Sitharaman said, "Congress is just shedding crocodile tears for farmers."
Regarding employment schemes in the budget, the Finance Minister stated that the government has introduced a special PM Yuva package for the youth. "We introduced a PM Yuva package in this budget, which includes five schemes to make youths independent and capable. In addition to this, we have introduced many schemes for the youth to make them competent and independent."
On employment data, she added that, according to RBI data, during the UPA era in 2012-13 to 2013-14, total employment in the country declined.
Highlighting the increase in employment in the country, Sitharaman shared that the labor force participation rate has increased from 49.8 percent in 2017-18 to 57.9 percent in 2022-23. "Women's labor force participation has also surged to 37 percent in 2022-23 from 23 percent in 2017-18," she said.
She also shared that the overall unemployment rate in the country has declined from 6 percent in 2017-18 to a low of 3.2 percent in 2022-23. The Finance Minister cited an SBI research report released in July 2024, which stated that India created 12.5 crore jobs between 2014 and 2023, compared to only 2.9 crore during the 10 years of the UPA government. Youth unemployment for the age group 15-29 years has declined sharply from 17.8 percent in 2017-18 to 10 percent in 2022-23.
She also criticized Congress for allegedly misleading on the employment situation in the country, adding that the data contradict Congress's claims.