The 3rd tranche of financial stimulus for the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan focusses on agriculture, fisheries and allied activities
The Finance Minister of India – Nirmala Sitharaman today, i.e., Friday, May 15, 2020 announced the 3rd tranche of financial stimulus focussing on agriculture, fisheries and allied activities.
In the previous 2 tranches, she had announced stimulus for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), Micro Finance Institutions, (MFIs), migrant workers, street vendors and affordable housing.
These measures are a part of Rs. 20 lakh crores financial stimulus, announced by Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi, during his address to the nation on May 12, 2020, to combat the economic woes, arising out of Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Prior to making the announcement, she highlighted the steps taken by Government for the agriculture sector in the past 2 months. She said that the Government has taken several measures to support farmers, including Minimum Support Price (MSP) purchases of Rs. 73,300 crores during the 2 months of lockdown. Besides this, Rs. 18,700 crores in cash dole out were made under the PM Kisan Fund transfers and Rs. 6,400 crores have been used for payment in crop insurance.
Under the new set of measures announced today, Government will set-up a fund worth Rs. 1 lakh crores for development of agriculture infrastructure for farm-gate infrastructure like cold chain, yards, etc. The impetus of this fund will be to develop farm-gate and aggregation point, affordable and financially viable post-harvest management infrastructure.
The Government has also announced Rs. 10,000 crores scheme aimed at formalising Micro Food Enterprises (MFE). The scheme aims to take the vision of Modi, ‘Vocal for Local with Global outreach’, forward. The scheme is likely to benefit 2 lakh MFEs. She also proposed developing State-specific cluster-based approach (e.g. Mango in Uttar Pradesh, Kesar in Jammu & Kashmir, Bamboo shoots in North-East, Chilli in Andhra Pradesh, Tapioca in Tamil Nadu, etc). This will enable integration with retail markets and improve incomes. It will also help in reaching the untapped export markets.
For fishermen, Government has also announced Rs. 20,000 crores under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). Under the scheme, funds would be provided to resolve the critical gaps in fisheries value chain. The government will launch the PMMSY for integrated, sustainable, inclusive development of marine and inland fisheries. Of these Rs. 20,000 crores, Rs. 11,000 crores will be used for activities in marine, inland fisheries and aquaculture. The Rs. 9000 crores will be used for developing infrastructure such as fishing harbours, cold chain, markets, etc.
She also announced a scheme, National Animal Disease Control Programme, for those engaged in animal husbandry. The scheme will be worth Rs. 13,343 crores and will cover foot disease, mouth disease and brucellosis of the animals. An Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund has also been announced. The fund is aimed at supporting private investment in dairy processing, value addition and cattle feed infrastructure. The total worth of this fund will be Rs. 15,000 crores.
Applauding the third tranche, Modi tweeted, “I welcome today’s measures announced by FM @nsitharaman. They will help the rural economy, our hardworking farmers, fishermen, the animal husbandry and dairy sectors. I specially welcome reform initiatives in agriculture, which will boost income of farmers. #AatmaNirbharDesh.”
Meanwhile, India registered 3,722 fresh cases and 134 casualties in the past 24 hours. As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there are more than 81,970 cases and there have been 2,649 casualties.
