Now, farmers to get more money for cattle sheds in Karnataka

Highlights

• The Basavaraj Bommai administration has approved a significant hike in cash benefits that farmers can get for the construction of cattle sheds.

• Not just that, the government has done away with the existing system in which SC/ST farmers got more cash when compared with others.

• To build a cattle shed, every SC/ST farmer got Rs 43,500 and those from other communities Rs 19,625. The government has now hiked this to Rs 57,000 without differentiating between SC/ST and general category farmers.

• The BJP government hopes this will assuage anger and douse ‘heartburn’ within the farming community over the differentiation.

• Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), individual farmers are given cash benefits to construct sheds for cattle, goats, pigs and poultry, among other farming activities.

Model cost estimates

According to Commissioner for Rural Development Shilpa Nag, Rs 57,000 is based on model cost estimates to build a shed that can house four cattle.

“A lot of labour organisations, as well as elected representatives, had asked us to make the cash benefit equal for SC/ST and non-SC/ST farmers. There were requests on multiple forums,” Shilpa told DH.

Shilpa said constructing cattle sheds is a source of livelihood. “Given climate change and other reasons, complete dependence on farm income may not be solid,” she pointed out.

According to data, 57,628 sheds were constructed in 2020-21. This rose to 63,478 in 2021-22. In the current 2022-23 fiscal, 27,383 sheds have been constructed so far.

Blanket prohibition

The hike in the cash benefit could encourage more farmers to construct cattle sheds in the wake of the amended Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, in force since January 2021, imposing a blanket prohibition on the slaughter of cows. It is feared that farmers will be burdened as they will have to take care of cattle, especially cows, even after they become barren. The new law allows only buffaloes above 13 years of age to be butchered.

Last year, the government decided to build goshalas in every district. In the 2022-23 budget, Rs 50 crore is earmarked to increase the number of goshalas from 31 to 100.

Under MGNREGS, 10 categories of farmers get priority for individual cash benefits: SC, ST, nomadic tribes, denotified tribes, BPL, women-headed households, disabled-headed households, beneficiaries of land reforms, beneficiaries of Indira Awas Yojana and beneficiaries of the Forest Rights Act.