UPA-Govt launched RKVY receives staggering 433% increased allocation

New Delhi, Feb 2: The Union Budget 2022 may have taken a conservative path and refrained from making big-ticket populist announcements for the agriculture sector, but a microscopic analysis has revealed intriguing facts that otherwise would have remained buried in the myriad of data.

One such attention-drawing part was the unprecedented allotment given to a scheme that was launched during the UPA regime in 2007.  

The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) has received a staggering 422 per cent increase in fund allocation this time, from Rs 2000 crore in 2021-22 (revised estimate) to Rs 10,433 for 2022-23.

The programme gives the state governments the flexibility to decide and allocate resources to state-level agri plans depending on needs and requirements at the micro-level.

According to agri experts, the Centre has sought to make an attempt to offer the state governments more autonomy to determine their priorities when it comes to the agriculture sector and allocate resources that they deem fit is good for the state.

The scheme, though, failed to make any significant impact over the years. Ever since the Narendra Modi-led NDA government came to power in 2014, RKVY did not remain a priority scheme for the government as was evident with the fund allocation.

In November 2017, however, the government gave its nod for the continuation of the programme till 2019-20 and rechristened it as Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana- Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sector Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR).

The broader objective was to make farming a remunerative economic activity through strengthening the farmer’s effort, risk mitigation and promoting agri-business entrepreneurship. The Centre bears 70 per cent of the annual outlay.

Talking to this correspondent, one of the political observers said that some of the CMs in BJP-ruled states had supported the scheme as it gave them leeway in fund allocation rather than allowing the resources to remain unutilised. The through that infused fresh lives into these schemes was that they allowed the states to develop and implement their plans.