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In addition, Chavan launched a new employment generation scheme to “provide additional funds to selected 120 districts which are backward and suffer from acute unemployment.” Without making too much of a fuss about it, Manmohan Singh merely said that “it is estimated that the Rural Employment programmes… generated about 800 million mandays of employment in 1991-92. In 1995-96, these programmes are estimated to generate 1,290 million mandays of employment.” Period.

If you as a Finance Minister were presenting an Election Budget, I am sure you will be worried about the fate of our farmers, who still constitute a sizeable proportion of the voting constituency. And the easiest you can do is to dole out more credit to them or, as Chidambaram did, add the cream by also waiving off their existing loans. In 2003, this is what Jaswant Singh did as the FM, when he knew that the general elections would be held by May next year. He too thought about the farmers.

“Timely availability of adequate credit is of utmost importance for the development of the rural economy and agriculture. I am not satisfied with this (the current) arrangement. We can not have a system wherein credit for motor cars is on easier terms than for farm equipment or tractors. Therefore… private banks will hereafter be encouraged to open branches in rural areas to service both farm and non-farm sectors there. I will also examine afresh this whole question of franchising agricultural credit….”

At the same time, a lot of money is allocated for other rural-based welfare schemes. They invariably relate to health, education, food, infrastructure, and housing. But I should mention one difference between past Election Budgets and Chidambaram’s. The current FM, unlike others who focused on some of these areas, decided to open his coffers for all the areas. In a sense, Chidambaram cleverly and brilliantly wooed each and every voters’ constituency, be it farmers, rural women, or urban Middle Class.

But we are digressing slightly from our main ‘rural’ story. Indira Gandhi announced a slew of package for small farmers, rural works, and supply of drinking water. She supplemented the schemes for school-feeding (doesn’t it remind you Chidambaram’s mid-day meals?). Chavan expanded the Integrated Child Development Services programme, and decided that the Centre would fully finance the social sector projects, which were being implemented by the state governments.

Manmohan Singh set up a new fund for rural infrastructure, NABARD, and doubled the targets for houses to be built under the Indira Awaas Yojna. Jaswant Singh proudly announced his ‘Panch Priorities”, of which the first one talked about “poverty eradication; addressing the ‘life time concerns’ of our citizens, covering health, housing, education, and employment. And one doesn’t need to list out the ‘social’ initiatives taken by the current FM – this list is just too long.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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