New Delhi: Even as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was giving the Budget speech in Parliament on Monday, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait, said that the government should provide a separate budget for farmers to address various issues of the farming community. He also sought a waiver of agricultural loans of farmers, NDTV reported.
Tikait said that there should be a separate budget for the agriculture sector, adding that as farmers are facing tough times the government should also waive off the loans of farmers. There should be a scheme to provide free electricity to farmers, he added speaking at the protest site of Ghazipur border.
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Other demands:
- A separate fund for agricultural work under Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) to give regular payment to farm labours.
- Income support to be raised under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, which aims to provide income support to all landholder farmer families.
- Better electricity and water availability to farmers and parity in payment of bills for the same between Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh farmers.
- Farm machinery to be exempted from tax.
