NEW DELHI, Nov 30: After Meghalaya was officially listed as the fifth-poorest state in India and the poorest in the Northeastern region, reports have surfaced which state that the farmers of the hill state have been earning the highest average daily income in the whole country and even better than farm-rich Punjab and Haryana.
While farmers from Meghalaya earn about Rs 29,000 per month, those from Punjab and Haryana earn a little over Rs 26,000 and Rs 22,000 respectively — this was part of the government’s reply on farmers’ income in Lok Sabha.
However, the farmers from Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal have been ascertained to have the lowest monthly income.
As per the government’s reply, farmers from these three states earn little over Rs 4,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000 on an average, monthly. On the other hand, the average income of farmers all over India has been ascertained to be about Rs 10,000.
The data as provided in Lok Sabha is from the National Statistical Office survey on Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of households in the rural areas of the country. This data was pertaining to the year 2019.
In its reply, the government added that an inter-ministerial Committee was constituted in April 2016 to examine issues related to ‘Doubling of Farmers Income’ (DFI) and recommend strategies to achieve the same.
“The Committee submitted its report to the government in September, 2018, containing the strategy for doubling farmers’ income by the year 2022. After acceptance of the Doubling of Farmers Income (DFI) Committee recommendations, the government constituted an ‘empowered body’ to review and monitor the progress,” the reply added.
Earlier, Meghalaya was officially listed as the fifth-poorest state in India and the poorest in the Northeastern region, as per NITI Aayog’s first Multidimensional Poverty Index report, released on Friday. Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have emerged as the poorest states in India, the report said.
