There was a lot in store for rural India in the Union Budget that was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2020.
The Budget has allocated ₹2.83 lakh crore for the irrigation and agriculture sector for the next fiscal and has pegged the agricultural credit target at ₹15 lakh crore for fiscal 2020-21. The education and health sector too get a boost. Here are a few hits when it comes to rural India:
The government launches “TB Harega Desh Jeetega” campaign and has committed to eradicate Tuberculosis by 2025.
The government proposes to expand Jan Aushadhi Kendra Scheme to all districts offering 2,000 medicines and 300 surgical by 2024.
The government provides Rs 69,000 crore to the health sector, which is inclusive of Rs 6,400 crore for Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
Total allocation for Swachh Bharat Mission is about Rs 12,300 crore in 2020-21.
The government proposes to provide about Rs 99,300 crore for the education sector in 2020-21 and about Rs 3,000 crore for skill development.
Aiming to provide piped water supply to all households, Prime Minister had announced the Jal Jeevan Mission. The government has approved Rs 3.60 lakh crore for this Mission. During the year 2020-21, the scheme would be provided a budget of Rs 11,500 crore.
To build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of milk, meat and fish, the Indian Railways will set up a “Kisan Rail” – through PPP arrangements. There shall be refrigerated coaches in Express and Freight trains as well.
Krishi Udaan will be launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on international and national routes. This will immensely help improve value realization especially in North-East and tribal districts.
India imports a significant quantity of technical textiles worth US$ 16 billion every year. To reverse this trend and to position India as a global leader in Technical Textiles, the government has proposed a National Technical Textiles Mission with a four-year implementation period from 2020-21 to 2023-24 at an estimated outlay of Rs 1,480 crore.
Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is moving ahead for creating a Unified Procurement System in the country for providing a single platform for procurement of goods, services and works. Around 3.24 lakh vendors are already on this platform. The government proposes to take its turnover to ` 3 lakh crore. The government proposes to provide about Rs 27,300 crore for development and promotion of Industry and Commerce for the year 2020-21.
The finance minister said the government’s vision is that all “public institutions” at Gram Panchayat levels such as Anganwadis, health and wellness centres, government schools, PDS outlets, post offices and police stations will be provided with digital connectivity. So, Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections through Bharatnet will link 100,000 gram panchayats this year. It is proposed to provide Rs 6,000 crore to Bharat Net programme in 2020-21.
The finance minister said the government is determined that there shall be no manual cleaning of sewer systems or septic tanks. Suitable technologies for such tasks have been identified by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The Ministry is working with urban local bodies for the adoption of these technologies.
To further the government’s commitment towards the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes, the finance minister has proposed a budget provision of about Rs 85,000 crore for 2020-21.
To further development and welfare of Scheduled tribes, the government has provided in the Budget for the year 2020-21 an amount of about Rs 53,700 crore.
