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Table of Contents

Stemming the tide of agrarian distress

 Rather than just increased budgetary outlays,
 Farmers need plans that will rescue them from crop failure
 First important step
 Minimum support price (MSP)- by at least 50% above the cost of production
 Production cost, as calculated by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices based on three di•erent methods, termed as A2, A2+FL, and C2.
 A2 covers all paid-out expenses, including in cash and in kind, namely, cost
on account of seeds, chemicals, hired labour, irrigation, fertilizers and fuel.
 A2+FL covers actual paid cost and unpaid family labour.
 C2 includes all actual expenses in cash and kind incurred in production and rent paid for leased land, imputed value of family labour plus interest paid
 In the last few years, the government has been giving MSP above 50% based on cost A2+FL, which is to be continued as per this Budget.
 But farmers, for many years, have been demanding that raise in MSP be based on C2 instead
 Little attention has been paid – ongoing „high input cost and low output price‟
 Government must extend immediate help to farmers from rampant price volatility
 States can implement the ‘price deficiency payment scheme’ (difference between MSP and price received) as has been started in Haryana for some vegetables, and the Bhavantar
Bhugtan Yojana in Madhya Pradesh for select oilseeds.
 These schemes can also encourage small holders.
 Second important step
 Develop and upgrade the existing 22,000 rural haats into Gramin Agricultural Markets.
 A corpus of •2,000 crore has been allocated in the name of Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund or
developing and upgrading marketing infrastructure.
 Can be taken forward through public private partnership, which has worked successfully in
other sectors.
 Another…interrelated initiative is the launching of „Operation Green’ with an outlay of •500 cr
ore to address the challenge of price volatility of perishable commodities.
 Third important step is to increase institutional credit from •10 lakh crore in 2017-18 to •
11 lakh crore in 2018-19
 What‟s missing
 There are certain pressing issues not considered in this Budget that must be given closer attention.
 Close to 52% of net sown area (73.2 million hectares out of 141.4 million hectares) is still unirrigated and rainfed, in addition to the recurrence of floods and droughts
 Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana — Har Khet ko Pani.
 The Centre will work with the State governments to enable farmers to install solar water pumps to irrigate •fields- decline in the ground water table.
 Another key component missing in the Budget is investment in agricultural research and development (Ag R&D)- This is a serious concern
 Which is not even 0.4 % of GDP from agriculture and allied activities
 The long-term measures to increase their income and trigger agricultural growth
 Investments in irrigation, infrastructure, improved extension services and institutions fully backed by a competitive marketing system

The power of persuasion

 Superstition(अंधविश्वास ) exists
 India may be unusual in degree & variety of superstitious practices, even among the educated
but superstition exists everywhere.
 Superstition never went away: people just hesitated to discuss it in public.
 No country, no matter its scientific prowess, has conquered superstition
 Explaining it
 Why is it so hard to remove superstitions?
 Fundamentally, a belief may be difficult to shake o•simply because of deep-seated habituation
 “Harmless” superstitions are likely to remain with humanity forever

Prelims Focus Facts-News Analysis

 Page-1- Bank of Baroda’s role in South Africa’s Gupta scandal
 BoB’s Johannesburg branch suppressed alerts of suspicious activity in the politically in•uential
Gupta family’s complex web of bank accounts
 Gupta brothers of the Sahara group, whose •financial dealings resulted in
the resignation of South African President Jacob Zuma
 Free sanitary napkins for schoolgirls in Odisha
 ‘Husband wants to sell me to Islamic State’
 The National Investigation Agency is treading cautiously on a complaint •led by a
Gujarat-based woman that her husband forced her to convert to Islam and wanted
to sell her o•to Islamic State terrorists in Saudi Arabia.
 GDP grew 6.9% in Oct.-Dec. on increased spending, says poll