Chennai: The country’s regular strive towards increasing economy and rural economy in general will be dependent on the efficacy of the shemes implemented, said a report.
The Global Food Policy Report that took into consideration India’s various measures to bolster rural economy, said the prospects for rural development are encouraging in the current year. It further hoped that the general elections will increase attention to rural areas where the majority of voters live.
“Policy decisions in India have significant spillover effects on policy developments in other countries of the region,” it added.
It also called for renewed efforts by various nations to deal with the challenges facing the rural economy across the globe.
“India, home to 70 per cent of the region’s rural population, has unveiled a number of measures to bolster rural economy. The government will maintain minimum support prices for major crops (25 at present) equal to at least 1.5 times their production costs. The efficacy of this policy will depend on the extent of implementation, as government procurement has been largely restricted to rice, wheat, sugarcane, and cotton. Further, this policy risks creating barriers to private sector entry into agricultural markets,” said the 2019 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR) released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington.
A fund of about $350 million is proposed to develop and upgrade agri marketing infrastructure. Other government measures to boost India’s rural economy and improve rural livelihoods include development of cluster-based specialised farming, promotion of organic farming, support for farmers’ organisations, extension of farmer credit to fisheries and animal husbandry farmers.
Talking about Ayushman Bharat, the report said it is the ‘world’s biggest health scheme’ which will provide health coverage to over 100 million poor and vulnerable families of about $8,500 for hospitalisation per family per year.
It must be noted that earlier this year, the World Bank and the government signed agreements which will see the former provide a $250-million loan for the National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP) to help women in rural households develop viable enterprises for farm and non-farm products.
“A key focus of the project will be to promote women-owned and women-led farm and non-farm enterprises across value chains; enable them to build businesses that help them access finance, markets and networks; and generate employment,” Wold Bank said in a statement.
NRETP is an additional financing to the $500-million National Rural Livelihoods Project (NRLP) approved by the World Bank in July 2011.
The $250 million loan has a 5-year grace period, and a final maturity of 20 years. The NRLP, which is currently being implemented across 13 States, 162 districts and 575 blocks, has so far mobilised more than 8.8 million women from poor rural households into 7.5 lakh self-help groups (SHGs).
| What about agri? |
 India’s inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 6.6 per cent in October-December period last year. The data however pointed towards pain points in the farm sector, state reports.
Real or inflation-adjusted gross value added (GVA) in agriculture grew 2.7 per cent in October-December, from 4.6 per cent in the same quarter of the previous year, and 4.2 per cent in July-September. GVA in agriculture in current prices grew two per cent, sharply lower than the previous year’s 9.1 per cent in the same quarter, and also lower than 3.4 per cent in July-September 2018. Latest price data showa that wholesale inflation slowed to 2.76 per cent in January, primarily driven by falling vegetable prices. |