Finance minister Arun Jaitley presenting the Modi government's last full-year budget before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls focused on boosting employment, connectivity, housing, toilets and electricity connections in the rural areas. "The focus of the government next year will be to provide maximum livelihood opportunities in rural areas by spending more on livelihood, agricultural and allied activities and construction of rural infrastructure," Jaitley said. An undeterred focus on providing direct benefits transfer to farmers will be a catalyst in realising the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid," he said. Physical infrastructure will be strengthened in these GrAMs using Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and other schemes. The GrAMs will be electronically linked to national agriculture market and exempted from regulations of agricultural produce marketing committee.

Source: The Telegraph February 02, 2018 15:11 UTC