Budget 2018: RSS' farmer bodies hail Centre, welcome agri-centric approach

Farmer bodies affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have hailed Budget 2018-19 as a significant departure from the past wherein farmers have come to the centre stage of national economic thinking.

"Kisani, jawani, pani, mehtarani are the four aspects of conservation of India's culture and heritage that this Budget has recognised," said BJP's Kisan Morcha chief and MP Virendra Singh.

Talking to DNA, Singh said the Budget has incorporated all the demands and aspects raised by the Morcha in the last one year.

"Kisani refers to welfare of farmers; jawani refers to creation of employment; pani refers to the measures to ensure enough water supply to farmers to reduce their dependence on rainfall; while mehtarani refers to the swachhta aspect reflected in the 'GOBAR-DHAN' scheme introduced in the Budget. The last one does not carry any caste connotation," Singh said.

Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), RSS' farmers' wing, also hailed the Budget calling it farmer-centric. "The idea of India being an agriculture-centric society — where the villages of India reflect the true culture of India as argued by so many of great minds such as Gandhiji, Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Dattopant Thengadi — has finally been realised to some extent in the Budget. It is only the first sign of government's sincerity since it announced its intention to double farm income by 2022," said BKS general secretary Badri Narayan Chaudhary.