Nirmala Sitharaman holds pre-budget talks with agriculture sector, GST removal main demandDuring the pre-budget consultations, several farm leaders demanded the abolition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on farm inputs.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday held an important pre-budget consultation with a large delegation of farmers and agricultural economists. During the meeting, she sought farmers’ suggestions and noted various issues and demands of the farmer community.
Farmers have asked the Finance Minister to inform them how government policies are working on the ground and what more needs to be done to improve the productivity and resilience of a sector that is still close to the population.
During the pre-budget consultations, many farmer leaders demanded the abolition of GST on farm inputs like seeds, manure, and pesticides.
“Many farmers feel that GST is a big burden on farm inputs and should be waived. We strongly proposed this. The Finance Minister has listened to our demands, taken note and assured that all possible steps will be taken to reduce cultivation costs,” said Dharmendra Malik, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (ARU).
In the absence of a legal guarantee on MSP, the BKU demands that the formula for calculating cultivation cost for determining minimum support prices be expanded and that a cost measure called C2 be indexed instead of the current “A2 + FL” method.
The C2 measure is a broad measure of a farmer’s cost of cultivation, which includes all farm expenses, including family labor, land and machinery. Malik said the BKU has put forward a 15-point demand. It includes a ban on imports below the federal fixed floor price, which would cause losses to farmers.
A large number of farmers are currently protesting on the borders of Delhi, demanding a legal guarantee of minimum crop prices and are planning a march to the capital.
Demand to abolish GST
“Another key demand is to increase the cash benefit under the PM Kisan scheme to at least ₹10,000-₹12,000 due to rising inflation,” said a second participant, who declined to be named.
Under PM-KISAN, the government provides income support of ₹6,000 per year to farmers with valid enrolment, paid in three equal cash transfers of ₹2,000 — one every four months. It was launched on February 24, 2019, when the first installment was paid.
The Finance Minister told the delegation that the Modi government has taken many unprecedented policies to benefit farmers and will never hurt them. The Minister assured that the issue of GST on agricultural goods will be looked into. The demand for abolition of GST was unanimous. This was stated by Sitharaman during her budget talks with farmers.
