Separate agriculture budget in offing
Maharashtra may soon become the fifth state in the country to present a separate agriculture budget, similar to the railway budget at the Centre. The state agriculture department has sought a separate budget for agriculture and a proposal for this has been submitted to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. If accepted, Maharashtra will become the fifth state after Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa to have a separate budget for agriculture.
“A separate budget would eliminate duplicity of fund allocation. Nearly 60 per cent of the population in the state is dependent upon agriculture, but the budget of the state is rarely an agriculture-oriented one,” said an official from the agriculture department.
“Besides, multiplicity of schemes result in delay in the funds reaching the actual beneficiaries,” the official added.
According to the official, the tribal, social welfare and agriculture departments have several schemes that overlap. Among others, projects such as soil conservation and irrigation are handled by both the agriculture and water resources departments. A single agriculture budget can deal with fund allocation for eight to ten departments, officials suggest. Agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil has supported the proposal; he had assured the legislative council last year that the state would have a separate agriculture budget in the near future.
Three years ago, BJP-ruled Karnataka pioneered the trend. In Maharashtra, BJP leaders, including leader of Oppos-ition in the legislative Assembly Vinod Tawde have been demanding a separate budget for agriculture. It was implemented in MP and Chhattisgarh — both BJP ruled states — last year. Orissa, which will have polls next year, presented a separate agriculture budget for the first time this month.
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