Haryana

• 21 Feb 2024

Haryana Budget Session: Before 2024 Assembly Polls

Why in News?

Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, who also holds the finance portfolio, is expected to present his fifth successive budget estimates before the legislature on February 23, 2024.

Key Points

• The opposition has decided to bring a no- confidence motion against the ruling alliance.
• The demand of farmer organisations to seek statutory backing for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops is likely to be a dominant feature of the proceedings.
  • In March 2021, the opposition had brought a motion of no-confidence against the coalition government which the ruling combine sailed through comfortably, getting 55 votes out of 87 MLAs present and voting in the House.
  • The motion was brought amid dissension among the MLAs of the ruling alliance over the enactment of three central farm laws and the protests by the farmers.

No-Confidence Motion

• This is a motion moved in the Lok Sabha (and not in the Rajya Sabha) to test the confidence of the government.
• The motion needs the support of 50 members to be admitted.
• If a no-confidence motion is passed, the government must resign.
• No-confidence motions are significant political events that usually occur when there is a perception of the government losing majority support.

Budget

• It is the government’s blueprint on expenditure, taxes it plans to levy, and other transactions which affect the economy and lives of citizens.
• According to Article 112 of the Indian Constitution, the Union Budget of a year is referred to as the Annual Financial Statement (AFS).
• The Budget Division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry is the nodal body responsible for preparing the Budget.

Haryana: Dedicated to Farmers' Welfare

Why in News?

According to Governor Dattatreya, the government has always given top priority to the welfare and upliftment of the poor, farmers, youth and women.

Key Points

• The government is tirelessly working for the all-round, all-encompassing and inclusive development of the state based on education, health, security, self-reliance, self respect, service and good governance.
  • Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, an amount of ₹4,157.73 crore has been directly deposited into the accounts of 19.94 lakh farmers of the state in the last four years.
  • The state government has set a unique example by purchasing 14 crops at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
  • A sum of ₹90,000 crore has been directly deposited into the accounts of the farmers registered on the 'Meri Fasal Mera Byora' portal while ₹836.12 crore has been deposited into the bank accounts of the bajra producing farmers under the Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana.
• Under the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme, claims worth about ₹8,178 crore have been given to 32.06 lakh farmers whose crops were damaged.
  • The government has implemented the natural farming scheme to protect soil health from degradation and discourage the use of hazardous pesticides.
• Under the 'Mera Pani-Meri Virasat' scheme, a financial assistance of about ₹117.22 crore has been provided at the rate of ₹7,000 per acre for sowing alternative crops instead of paddy across 1.72 thousand acres of land.
• The governor said the farmers, who repay their loans on time, have been granted the facility of interest-free crop loans.
• The state government has notified the Haryana Ex-Situ Management of Paddy Straw Policy, 2023, to make stubble a source of income for the farmers and to protect the environment.
  • This policy will focus on increasing private investment in straw-based projects and ensuring the use of straw by incentivizing the farmers.
  • The target is to eliminate the problem of crop residue burning by 2027 under this policy.
• The government has gone beyond the individual identity card 'Aadhaar' and made a system of identification of the family in the form of 'Parivar Pehchan Patra', making it a medium to deliver benefits of government schemes to every family.
• Government has launched a strong campaign against corruption.
  • In 2023, the Anti-Corruption Bureau registered 205 cases, conducted 152 raids and arrested 186 government employees, including 30 gazetted officers, 156 non-gazetted officers and 40 private persons.
• The governor said the government is making efforts to increase the number of women police personnel in the Haryana Police from 10 to 15%.

Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) Scheme

• The PPP scheme was formally launched in July 2019 to achieve Haryana government’s vision for ‘paperless’ and ‘faceless’ delivery of schemes, services and benefits offered by the state government.
• Under this, each family is considered a single unit and gets an 8-digit unique identification number, called family ID.
• Family IDs are also linked to independent schemes like scholarships, subsidies and pensions, so as to ensure consistency and reliability.
• It also enables automatic selection of beneficiaries of various schemes, subsidies and pensions.
• The primary objective of Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) is to create authentic, verified and reliable data of all families in Haryana.

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi

• It was launched on 24th February, 2019 to supplement financial needs of land holding farmers.
• Financial benefit of Rs 6000/- per year in three equal installments, every four months is transferred into the bank accounts of farmers’ families across the country through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.
• It is a Central Sector Scheme with 100% funding from the Government of India.
• It is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

• It was launched in 2016 and is being administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• It replaced the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS).
• Farmers including sharecroppers and tenant farmers growing notified crops in the notified areas are eligible for coverage.