Karnataka Federation of Farmers’ Associations and State Sugarcane Growers’ Association presidentc on Tuesday said the Union Budget for 2024-25 has nothing concrete to address the problems faced by farmers in the country. Most importantly, there was no announcement in the budget that provided a minimum support price (MSP) to farmers’ produce which had been demanded by the farmers for many years, he said.
Reacting to the budget, here, Mr. Shanthkumar said the Budget has given additional allocation to the farm sector but the budget lacks schemes or plans that bring relief to farmers’ problems. There is no guarantee of support price to farm produce. The agriculture sector belonged to hard working farmers. It seems the Centre has forgotten that digitization does not result in food production, he stated.
Kurubur Shanthakumar | Photo Credit: File Photo
Expressing displeasure that the Budget has no policy on loans to farmers, he said the policy of providing 75% of loans on the cost of the farmers’ land has not been announced. The announcement of the Kisan Credit Card will not help farmers, he opined.
He said the country’s farmers are in distress and were awaiting loan waivers. The absence of a loan policy and loan waiver plans will increase the hardships to farmers.
Travel industry displeased
Mysore Travels Association President B.S. Prashanth has expressed his displeasure over the Union Budget “neglecting” the tourism sector, especially South India and in particular Mysuru, which is a major tourist destination.
“The contribution from the Budget to South India as far as the tourism and travel industry is concerned is zero. Only a few destinations in North India have got priority whereas the South Indian destinations, including Mysuru, haven’t got anything in the Budget,” Mr. Prashanth said in a statement.
He added that the travel industry in Mysuru was expecting a lot in the first Budget of the NDA-3 government at the Centre. “It is not good to bring politics or political reasons when it comes to allocating funds to states in the Budget. The MPs from the State must raise their voice against the disparity,” he demanded.
