‘Govt committed to enhancing Annadatas’ quality of life’

Jaipur: CM Bhajan Lal Sharma while addressing the ‘Abhinandan & Aabhar Samaroh’ by farmers for the historic announcements related to agriculture in the Revised Budget 2024-25 at the Chief Minister’s residence on Friday. The Chief Minister emphasised that agriculture has been traditionally esteemed as a dignified livelihood in our country.

Those who have ruled the country the longest did not care about the farmers, the Chief Minister said. In our country, agriculture has traditionally been considered a dignified livelihood, but the longest-reigning governments neglected farmers and perpetuated ruralurban discrimination. After 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi understood farmers’ hardships and initiated numerous impactful schemes to improve their standard of living.

Sharma highlighted that the revised budget for 2024-25 allocated over Rs 96,000 crore for agricultural development and farmer welfare, including Rs 50,000 crore for the Rajasthan Irrigation Water Grid Mission and over Rs 30,000 crore for the Run off Water Grid. Additionally, Rs 650 crore was allocated for the Rajasthan Agriculture Development Scheme. Sharma announced interest-free short-term crop loans totalling Rs 23,000 cr, benefiting 5 lakh new farmers with an interest subsidy of Rs 736 crore. The budget also expanded long-term agricultural loans by cooperative banks for land improvement to Rs 100 cr. A CM Animal Husbandry Development Fund of Rs 250 cr was set up to promote, conserve, develop animal husbandry.