Central spending on farm sector shows little growth without PM-KISAN

If feelers from the govt are any indication, going forward, PM-KISAN will gradually become the marquee scheme for the farm sector, akin to what MGNREGA was for UPA-1 and 2

A cursory glance at the 2020-21 Union Budget numbers shows that spending on agriculture and allied activities has risen by a healthy over 91 per cent between 2018-19 actuals and the revised estimate of 2019-20 (the current financial year).

This sharp increase comes in a year when the government faces one of the steepest declines in gross revenue collections.

However, a deeper dive into the numbers reveals that if the money spent on PM-KISAN disbursals is weaned out, total Central spending for agriculture and allied activities in 2019-20 as per the revised Budget estimates has risen by a mere 5.61