Raise farm productivity THE Rs 60,000-crore agricultural loan waiver and one-time settlement announced in the budget for 2008-09, welcome as it is, will not be enough to mitigate distress among farmers. According to the C. Rangarajan Committee, only 27 per cent of the farm households take loans from formal sources. …
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's initiative is a major step in recognising the country's debt to farm families but much more needs to be done. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's budget 2008-09 has aroused widespread interest in methods of saving our small and marginal farming families from indebtedness and acute economic distress, …
2 "The budget will go a long way in solving the problems of the small farmer,' said Pawan Kumar Bansal, Minister of State for Finance, while speaking at a seminar, "Agriculture
Buoyed by the popular reaction to the farm debt waiver and debt relief scheme announced in the budget, the Congress has planned a series of rallies in State capitals and district headquarters. It will begin with a massive show of strength on the Ramlila grounds here on March 9. At …
Union finance minister's Rs 60,000-crore loan waiver in the Union Budget proposals has won kudos for the government and has to some extent queered the pitch for the Opposition on this score. But a lot more needs to be done if the Congress-led UPA government has to regain the confidence …
The Union Budget 2008-09 has seen funds for women, minorities and Scheduled Tribes go up substantially. One of the beneficiaries of a 24 per cent rise in allocations for the Ministry of Women and Child Development is a plan to prevent trafficking of girls for which the ministry has chalked …
As the UPA government grapples to step up spending on education to 6 per cent of GDP, a commitment made in its governance agenda, a key Finance Ministry official has said accent on primary education will not yield results if not complemented by focus on secondary schooling. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan …
On February 29 when Finance Minister P. Chidambaram takes guard, his batting average is going to look almost Bradmanesque. Three consecutive years of 9-plus per cent growth, income tax growing at an unprecedented 40 per cent per annum, customs duty collection growing despite lower tariffs, agriculture credit doubling in three …
They are indebted to moneylenders and middlemen, and pay huge interest Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday unveiled a Rs.60,000-crore debt waiver and debt relief scheme for four crore small, marginal farmers and other institutional loanee farmers. But his proposals did not indicate any provision in the Agriculture Ministry's budgetary …
The Union budget's proposal for clearing the indebtedness of small and marginal farmers is ad hoc. It does not aim at removing the root cause of farmers' deprivation, which is lack of remunerative price for their produce, Subramanian Swamy, Janata Party president said. Describing the budget as "hotch-potch retrograde,' Dr. …
The Budget has evoked mostly a positive response from the automobile industry. About large cars: The General Motors India President, Mr Karl Slym, has said the company expected duty reductions for all types of cars. "Generally, it is all right. We have heard about national highways programme but we are …
Upbeat after the loan waiver for farmers, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday said there was no hurry to hold general elections. Denying that the loan waiver was meant as a pre-poll move, he told reporters, "Let us stay in power for another 14 to 15 months.'
P. Chidambaram Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday conceded that the challenge thrown to Opposition members who were dubbing the Rs. 60,000-crore farm loan waiver programme proposed in the Union Budget for 2008-09 as an election sop "to stand up and be counted and not duck the issue' was, in …
DAY-2 BUDGET 2008-09 IMPACT/ OIL AND GAS The exclusion of petroleum and natural gas from the broad category of "mineral oil' has put players in the oil and gas sector in a tizzy. Producers of oil and gas and refiners of crude oil were claiming an income tax exemption under …
BUDGET 2008-09 IMPACT DAY-2 No repayment of interest on outstanding loans. The Rs 60,000 crore farm debt waiver and relief package announced in the Budget may not be just in the form of special securities issued by the government, but involve actual money being reimbursed to them. The banks may …
A day after presenting his fifth Budget in the UPA government, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said budgets did not win elections, unless they were properly marketed. In a detailed interview on Saturday, Chidambaram said he still aimed at nine per cent growth for the economy in 2008-09. He also indicated …
Mar 1 February, which is generally a lean month for car manufacturers as prospective buyers tend to postpone their purchase in anticipation of excise duty cuts in the Budget, saw market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) register flat sales in the domestic market at 59,311 units as compared to …
State stands to gain from welfare schemes announced for minorities Roughly four lakh farmers in Kerala are expected to gain from the debt relief measures announced by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's farmer-friendly budget. Since the huge majority of farmers in debt in Kerala are marginal (holding below one hectare) …
