Farmers' income declined 1.38%, under Modi govt: Yashwant Sinha

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Kolkata: Criticising the recent Budget announcements of the Narendra Modi government, former union minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday said that currently there is distress in rural India with farmers' income declining by 1.38 percent in the last four years.

"There is tremendous rural distress and it is not merely because agricultural growth rate has declined. The distress is because the farmer is actually getting one third or 50 percent of the price of his produce when compared to minimum support price," he said in an event organised by Calcutta Chamber of Commerce.

Citing a study, he said that the agricultural growth rate during the last four years of the present Modi government was 1.9 percent annually compared to 3.8 percent in the first four years of UPA government.

The senior BJP leader said that agriculture value has also declined. 

"In the last four years, farmers' income has declined by 1.38 percent. Instead of increasing their income, it has gone down. So, when we are talking about doubling it by 2022, I would say the last four years have been lost. We are already in 2018, what shall be done in the next four years?"

He also said the Budget paper is a "sacred document" and every proposal in the Budget must be backed by the financial provision and otherwise, it will become election manifesto.

"What is the difference between election manifesto and budget document? In an election manifesto, you make promises without having mentioned the cost and where from the money is going to come. In the budget, you can't do that," he said, adding there is no token for financial provision for ensuring higher farmers' income.