There was a standard exclusion list of institutional owners, professional owners, and owners who paid income tax. This scheme was supposed to benefit 12 crore small and marginal farmers with an aggregate outlay of Rs 75,000 crore. Now, the beneficiaries covered will be 14.5 crore farmers and the ticket size of the project will be Rs 87,217.5 crore. In India, 52 per cent of agricultural households are reportedly indebted with an average outstanding debt of Rs 47,000. There are many deep-rooted structural problems in Indian agriculture that need to be tackled with wisdom and courage.

Source: The Telegraph June 12, 2019 03:56 UTC