Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan – Part 3 (Highlights)

In continuation of the announcements from the past two days, the Hon’ble Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced few more measures covering agriculture and allied activities including fishery, animal husbandry and food processing. Today, a total of 11 steps have been declared out of which eight measures were related to strengthening the infrastructure logistics, and capacity building and three measures were related to governance and administrative reforms.

The government has already taken several steps for agriculture during COVID-19. These steps including Minimum Support Price (MSP) purchases worth of Rs 74,300 crore, PM KISAN fund transfer worth of Rs 18,700 crore and also cleared PM Fasal Bhima Yojna with of Rs 6,400 crore. Various steps are taken for animal husbandry such as interest subvention and provided liquidity of Rs 5,000 crore. Also, few critical deadlines for fisheries have been extended.

The following are the highlights of measures announced as the third tranche under Aatmanirbhara Bharath Abhiyan (ABA).

Also Read: Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan – Part 2 (Highlights)

8 Measures related to Infrastructure Logistics and Capacity Building:

1. Rs 1 lakh crore for aggregators, FPOs, agriculture entrepreneurs and startups, etc. for development of cold chain and post-harvest management.
2. Rs 10,000 crore scheme for forming Micro Food Enterprises (MFE), which will benefit two lakh MFEs on a cluster-based approach.
3. The government will launch Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampadha Yojana (PMMSY) with Rs 20,000 crore. This will ensure the employment to over 55 lakh people and help double the exports to Rs 1 lakh crore.
4. To ensure 100% vaccination for around 53 crore animals, the National Animal Disease Control Programme will be given Rs 13,343 crore.
5. To support private investment in dairy processing and cattle feed infrastructure, an Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund will be created with Rs 15,000 crore.
6. National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB) will be allotted Rs 4,000 crore to promote herbal cultivation in 10 lakh hectares.
7. Rs 5,000 crore will be allocated for infrastructure development in beekeeping activities, and this will help 2 lakh beekeepers.
8. TOP to TOTAL Initiative: “Operation Greens” will be extended from tomatoes, onions, and potatoes (TOP) to all fruits and vegetables in a pilot mode by allocating Rs 500 core.

3 Measures related to Governance and Administrative Reforms:

1. Amendments to the Essential Commodities Act to deregulate agriculture foodstuff including cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses, onions and potato. These amendments will enable better price realisation for farmers.
2. A central law will be formulated for implementing agriculture marketing reforms. This law provides marketing choices to farmers like every other trader.
3. Agriculture Produce Price and Quality Assurance: A legal framework will be created for farmers, which will mitigate the risk, provide assured returns and standardise the quality.

For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at dvsr.anjaneyulu@cleartax.in