'Doubts over three farm laws should be cleared by Budget 2021': Union Agri Minister Tomar

Reacting to the Budget 2021-22 presented by the Union Finance Minister on Monday, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has remarked that any doubts regarding the three farm laws should be cleared with the budget that has been introduced by the Centre. Citing the provisions aiming at strengthening APMCs and MSPs, the Union Agriculture Minister said that they were a testament to Centre's push for the agriculture sector. Welcoming the Union Budget, Tomar also asserted that the government is always trying to double the income of farmers which can be reflected in the budget presented in the Parliament. 

"In the agriculture sector, farmers used to receive up to Rs 7 lakh of credit which after coming to power PM Modi increased to Rs 15 lakhs and in this budget Rs 16.5 lakh crores of credit has been announced by the government which is a huge provision. APMC will be able to strengthen themselves with a strong infrastructure which will also benefit the farmers in view of which Rs 1 lakh crore has been announced," Tomar highlighted while speaking to ANI. 

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Push for MSP, APMCs to be strengthened

"Those who have doubts regarding the three farm bills, their doubts should be cleared by this budget. In this budget, there is a push for MSP and the Centre has also ensured to strengthen APMCs. Importantly, these were two doubts. I am hopeful that the farmers will approach the three laws positively with respect to the budget," he added. 

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Apart from increasing the credit for the agriculture sector, the Centre announced that SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme will be extended during 2021-22 to cover all states and union territories. Under the third pillar of the Budget 2021-22, the Union Government also enhanced the allocation for Rural Infrastructure Development Fund to be enhanced from ₹ 30,000 crores to ₹ 40,000 crores whereas ₹ 5,000 crore Micro Irrigation Fund has been augmented by another ₹ 5,000 crores.

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented the first-ever paperless budget in a post-COVID India and based it on six pillars - health and well-being, physical and financial capital and infrastructure, inclusive development for aspirational India, reinvigorating human capital, innovation and R&D, minimum government, maximum governance. At the start of Union Budget 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman quoted Rabindranath Tagore and said, called the Budget the 'dawn of a new era'. She also hailed the Indian cricket team for their recent Cricket Test series win against Australia. 

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