PHDCCI lauds direct transfer of Rs. 18,000 crore to farmers

New Delhi: While appreciating the second instalment of financial benefit under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) of Rs. 18,000 crore to more than 9 crores beneficiary farmer families, Sanjay Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a press statement issued here today that farm sector is the most resilient sector of the Indian economy as it contributed more than Rs. 87,000 crore  as an incremental GDP in the H1 of FY 2020-21 when the economy witnessed its most difficult time  caused by pandemic Covid-19.
 
GDP of agriculture, forestry &fishing at current prices grew from Rs. 13,20,449 crore in H1 2019-20 to Rs. 14,07,821 crore in H1 2020-21 with an increase of Rs. 87, 372 crore which is showing a growth of  6.6% at current prices, says Aggarwal.
 
Incremental growth of Agriculture in H1 FY 21 is one of the major factors to pull economic growth from its lows of (-) 23.9% in Q1 FY21  to  (-) 7.5% in Q2 FY21, says Aggarwal.
 
The re-emerging demand in the rural areas at the back of resilience of agriculture sector is supporting manufacturing and services sector activities, said Aggarwal.
 
Agriculture sector in India is still the primary source of livelihood of millions; a significant share of workforce in the country depends on agriculture for their livelihood, he said.
 
Thus, the sector has a significant role to play in food security, reducing poverty and sustaining the economic growth trajectory of India, said Aggarwal.
 
The plethora of schemes and initiatives announced by the Government with the aim of growth and development of agriculture sector including Soil Health Card Scheme, National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF), schemes for livestock & fishermen and an outlay of Rs 2.83 lakh crore in Union Budget 2020-21, among others are highly appreciable.
 
Further, the string of recent reform measures for agriculture and rural sector in the recent months including removing the norm for farmers to sell agriculture produce only to licensees in APMCs, amendment of Essential Commodities Act, implementation of agriculture marketing reforms, promotion of Herbal Cultivation, will help to achieve the vision of our Hon’ble Prime Minister to double the farmers income, going forward, said Aggarwal.
 
The agriculture sector is a low hanging fruit which will continue to show positive growth on the back of government support to the farm sector, he said.
 
At this juncture, there is an urgent need to resolve the issues related to the new farm laws by the farmers' organizations and the government with continuous dialogue between the two as farmers’ agitation may derail the economic  recovery and result in more than Rs. 1,00,000 crore loss of economic activity, said Aggarwal.
 
The economic activities such as the food processing, cotton textiles, garments, automobile, farm machinery, Information technology, trading, tourism, hospitality and transport have been severely impacted by the continuous agitation with the disrupted supplies of many raw materials to the  industry, said Aggarwal.
 
We need to immediately bring a resolution so that the economic recovery process remains intact and GDP growth moves to its higher growth trajectory in the coming quarters, said Aggarwal.
 
Aggarwal mentioned that  though the implementation of GST, one of the major historic economic reforms which changed the entire dynamics of business processes,  was also creating so many hardships for businesses particularly for small and medium sized businesses with its teething problems, however, he industry successfully adopted the change and businesses are now working efficiently with significant reduction in transactional costs, said Sh. Aggarwal.
 
Going ahead, we expect that the reform push to agriculture sector will continue and direct transfers will bring fruitful results in the economy with enhanced consumption demand and support to the manufacturing and services sector activities, said  Aggarwal.