Big announcements for farmers in the budget
The government has made increasing farmers and agricultural production its first priority in Budget 2024. The government has mentioned a total of 9 priorities in the budget, in which it is at the top. Along with this, the government has talked about strengthening the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in the agriculture sector. After all, how will this provide a strong support to the country’s poor destitute farmers who depend on the monsoon?
Agriculture and farmers are the backbone of India’s economy, as a large population of the country is still engaged in this occupation. In such a situation, can an Aadhaar card under DPI or any system based on it change their lives?
In the budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke of harnessing the potential of DPI in the agriculture sector. The government wants to use DPI in sectors ranging from e-commerce to MSME, health, law and others. However, the government is already using Jan Dhan account, Aadhaar and mobile payment under DPI to provide PM Kisan Saman Nidhi to farmers.
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This will benefit the DPI in the agriculture sector.
By FY 2027-28, India will become the third largest economy in the world. In such a situation, it is important to maintain the development of the agricultural sector. Talking about the success of DPI, from 2013 to 2021, the government has saved around Rs 2.2 lakh crore in subsidy and fund transfer with its help. This is more than 1 percent of the current GDP of the country.
Now if we imagine the use of DPI in the agricultural sector, at that time the farmer has to go to the market to sell his goods. Where he gets paid according to the market price. Now if this process is digitized then every farmer will have his own land details i.e. his own Aadhaar like his land ID card. He will have a farmer’s ID.
The government has already launched the e-NAM scheme to bring markets across the country online. Where prices of commodities are known in every market. Now the government is going to focus on developing a digital platform for farmers. On this the farmer will enter his details, crop details and land details. He will instantly know the best possible price for his crop. Then if he wants, he can deliver his crop directly from the fields to the buyers or the buyer can pick up the goods from his place. It should be paid directly into the farmer’s account.
Farmers will be able to join the economy.
By doing this, the government will have another advantage. Data on agricultural land in the country, sown on it and its yield will all be available at one place. This will help the government to formulate better policies. A scheme like Bho Aadhaar will facilitate land transactions, compensation to the right person etc. Additionally, the government will have accurate data on farmers and their economic status, which can help link them to the country’s formal economy.
