The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech said that there has been a significant increase in the procurement of rice & wheat. She said money paid to farmers has jumped remarkably since 2013-14 when Modi government took over. She said that the amount paid to wheat farmers has gone up by more than 121% while the amount disbursed to rice farmers has gone up by massive 170.23% during this time. The government on the other hand has reassured farmers that MSP system will continue and will be further strengthened. Reiterating its commitment to develop APMCs, the government has announced to allow utilisation of Rs 1 lakh crore infrastructure fund for the infrastructure development of state-controlled mandis. This may allay fears of protesting farmers that centre is planning to destroy mandi system through new farm laws. Sitharaman also said the allocation to rural infrastructure development has been increased to Rs 40,000 crore for the next fiscal from Rs 30,000 crore in FY21.
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