(a) whether the Government has received some important suggestions from the
organisations like ASSOCHAM and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to deal with
the problem of drought in some States;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the response of the Government thereon?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD PROCESSING
INDUSTRIES AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI HARISH RAWAT)
(a) to (c): Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India has not received any specific
suggestions from ASSOCHAM and Confederation of of Indian Industry (CII) to deal
with the problem of drought. However, CII had submitted the Pre-Budget Memorandum
containing recommendations for Union Budget 2012-13 relating to agriculture sector.
These recommendations include capital grants for projects; creation of a development
fund to give boost to research, processing, storage/infrastructure projects in agriculture
and food sector; provision of working capital and interest subsidy etc. CII in its
Memorandum also made following suggestions to increase the productivity in agri and
food supply chain:
# Restructuring extension services under PPP models at National level to make
services more effective.
# FDI in retail to be encouraged in rural areas as this will help in upgradation of
supply chain infrastructure, better products/prices to rural customers,
employment etc.
# Fiscal incentives to rural business hubs need to be considered in - order to
provide better agri solutions to the farmers.
# Increasing the scop Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme (DEDS), viz.
dairy farming to include large scale farms (up to 50-100 animals)
# The nutrient based subsidy mechanism needs to be extended for all fertilizers,
including urea as well.