Blaming the Congress for agrarian distress, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said the policy of the NDA Government to pump in more resources into rural areas has improved agricultural productivity and the quality of lives of the people in villages.
Jaitley said with the current level of investment in the next two decades, the infrastructure in rural areas will come at par with that in the cities.
The Minister's remarks came in the backdrop of Opposition party's allegations of ignoring rural India and agriculture sector and the last week's massive protest in the national Capital by farmers across the country. "The NDA Government has pumped in resources into the rural areas, which have improved infrastructure, the quality of life of people living therein and increased agricultural productivity, Jaitley wrote in a blog titled ''India's rural sector'.
The Government, he noted, has increased expenditure on rural roads, housing and healthcare as well as launched schemes like Swachh Bharat, rural electrification, JanDhan, Ujjwala Yojana and Mudra Yojana with an aim to improve the agrarian sector.