Atmanirbhar & rural growth: Need to make all the right noises

The expenditure for total rural development schemes declined from Rs 2.16 trillion in FY21 to Rs 1.95 trillion in FY22.

The adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on agriculture and rural areas has been lower than the urban areas. While the lockdown due to Covid adversely affected the performance of the non-agricultural sector, the growth rate in agriculture will be around 3.4 per cent in 2020-21 (FY21). However, agricultural and rural incomes are still low, as the terms of trade are not in favour of agriculture.

Farmgate prices are low. The reduction in remittances due to reverse migration and lower growth in rural wages led to low incomes in rural areas. The informal sector workers bore the brunt of income