‘Interests of farmers ignored in budget’

KARNAL: Farmer leaders accused Haryana finance minister Capt Abhimanu of ignoring interests of growers in the budgetary estimates tabled in the state assembly on Monday.

They alleged that the allocation of ₹3,206.01 crore for the agriculture sector is meager and not sufficient.

“Around 70% of the population in the state depends on agriculture but the finance minister has allocated only ₹3,206 crore for this sector even as farmers continue to commit suicide,” Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) state president Gurnam Singh Chaduni told Hindustan Times.

He said, “The government has declared 50% of the state as dark zone and banned distribution of tubewell connections to the farmers, but it should have made more allocations for irrigation sector to promote sprinkler irrigation so that farmers could irrigate their crops.”

Another farmer leader Ratan Mann termed the budget as misleading and directionless. “Though the finance minister has promised to double the farmers’ income by 2022, he did not mention even a single step to increase income of farmers,” Mann said in a statement.

He said that there is no relief for the farming community in the budget and there is no clarity as to what steps will be taken to improve the financial condition of farmers, who are reeling under debt.

Another farmer Karambir Singh said the government should have provided direct benefits to the farmers, who are suffering due to increasing prices of fertilisers and diesel.