Rural economy and its expectations from Budget 2018-19

In his budget speech on 1st February 2017 the finance minister stated that he proposes to present the budget under ten distinct themes and rural population was one of the said themes. Experts believe that budget 2018 will be no different in fact the FM is expected to focus more on rural India and its economy with renewed vigor. Consecutive years of drought and then demonetization have had its impact on the rural economy too, but recent surge in tractor sales may indicate that the worse may be behind us. Tractor manufacturers sold a whopping 363,071 unit in the April - September 2017 period, a 21% increase compared to the same period last year. Over the last couple of years policies such as farm loan waiver and subsidies have become a norm but these sops do not reach the small farmers, may be fiscally unviable and even counterproductive. Experts believe that the FM in his budget 2018 should focus on providing relief to small farmers with very small or negligible land holdings. This can be done by taking steps to ensure agri-GDP growth and rural wage growth.
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