A cross section of the agriculture and industries sectors in Tamil Nadu and Kerala are unhappy with the Union Budget 2022-2023 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.
Farmers are unhappy over the Union Government’s failure to implement the promise the BJP leadership had made to them before the 2014 Lok Sabha election though the party has been ruling the country uninterrupted for the last seven years, said R V Giri, national president, Consortium of Indian Farmers’ Association (CIFA).
Speaking to The Pioneer from Virudhachalam in Tamil Nadu, the seasoned farmer said the recommendations made by M S Swaminathan led Farmers Commission remain in paper even after 15 years. “The Swaminathan Commission had recommended that farmers should get the cost of production and its 50 per cent as the procurement price or selling price from the buyers for their products. We will be able to survive only if the Government accepts that suggestion,” said Giri. He said farmers across the country are disappointed with the response of the Union Government to their minimum demands.
The move to introduce organic farming in a big way has nit enthused the farming community, said Giri. “Is there any assurance that we would get the returns for the money we spend on organic farming? Moreover the farmland in Tamil Nadu is not conducive for organic farming and this would lead to a fall in the productivity,” said Giri.
Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association (TANSTIA), an umbrella organization of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), expressed disappointment over the raw deal they got in the budget proposals. “We contribute 35 per cent of the GDP and 48 per cent of the Indian exports.
There was an expectation that the GST on products manufactured in MSME would be brought down and there would be some incentives on export. There are no special grants, schemes, and subsidies for MSMEs to boost the sector. There are lakhs of units which were shut down and became Non Performing Assets. There is nothing in the budget proposals to revive these units,” said S Vasudevan, vice president, TANSTIA.
Raja M Shanmugham, president, Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) said the review of Customs exemption and Tariff simplification would go a long way in protecting the domestic garment business. He also welcomed the exemption provided on items such as embellishment , trimming, fasteners, buttons, zipper, lining materials and packaging boxes, which will be beneficial to knitwear exporters.
The Finance Minister has given maximum thrust to infrastructure development and this is a major boost to employment generation, according to Hari S Kartha, economist-turned-columnist.