Food surpluses have led to dip in farmers' income: Jaitley
Mumbai, Jan 17: Amid speculation that the BJP-led central government may introduce an income support scheme, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Thursday said food surpluses have caused both food prices and farmers' income to plunge, posing a policy challenge.
Speaking a fortnight ahead of the Budget, he underlined that there have been precedents of interim budgets containing major policy announcements to tackle an urgent situation.
"Our farmers have increased productivity and we have moved into a surplus area. Management of the surplus is constituting a challenge for us for the last several years the prices have fallen," Jaitley said.
The finance minister, currently undergoing treatment in New York, was speaking through video conferencing at CNBC-TV18's Indian Business Leadership Awards here.
The fall in food prices in the last few months indicated the poor income farmers are making, he said.
"Situations like calamity, drought, stress...(spending to tackle them) can't be considered as populist expenditure," he said, exuding confidence that markets can distinguish between a populist measure and something driven by a compelling situation.
Stating that the government has notched up success in many areas but is also facing challenges, he said some of them need urgent action.
"Some of those challenges really can't afford to wait. Therefore, obviously, there will be a necessity to address some of them. It has happened in the past. Therefore, we intend working within the parameters of the conventions that exist," he said.
Jaitley, however, refrained from shedding more light on the government's plans ahead of the Budget.
The government has been moving on "a glide path" on the fiscal consolidation front, unless some "unusual situation" demanded something, he said.
It can be noted that as per the data available till November, the government has already breached its budgeted fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent. Economists have raised fear that the government may announce populist measures ahead of elections, which may lead to a higher fiscal deficit.
On the RBI, Jaitley said the government and the central bank have always had consultations despite some differences that played out recently.
The government raising its concerns should not be construed as a breach of RBI's autonomy, as in a consultative process one has to express oneself freely and frankly, the finance minister said.
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4 held for sexually assaulting woman, girl on moving bus after social media alert in UP's Agra
Agra (UP) (PTI): Four people were arrested, after a prompt response by police following a social media alert, for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman and a girl inside a moving bus here, officials said on Tuesday.
According to an official police statement, at 12:27 am on April 27, information was received on the social media platform X about an incident of sexual assault on a bus travelling from Kanpur to Ahmedabad, which was approaching Namner crossing in Agra.
Acting under the direction of Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar, the Agra Police social media team immediately alerted the Rakabganj police station within minutes and coordinated with the victims to confirm the incident and obtain the exact location, it stated.
Police teams launched intensive checking at Namner crossing and intercepted the bus as it reached the spot. The four accused involved in the incident were apprehended on the spot, and legal action was initiated against them, the statement said.
The police said the swift response and coordination between the social media team and field units ensured timely action, bringing relief to the victims and other passengers, who expressed gratitude towards the police, it added.
