New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inducted two new ministers of state at the agriculture ministry, as part of the cabinet reshuffle on Sunday. The new ministers, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Krishna Raj will work with agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh.
Together with Parshottam Rupala, the farm ministry will now have three ministers of state. S. S. Ahluwalia and Sudarshan Bhagat, who earlier were junior ministers of agriculture, were moved to drinking water and sanitation ministry and tribal affairs ministry, respectively, as junior ministers.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is currently a member of Lok Sabha, representing Jodhpur in Rajasthan. Krishna Raj, also an MP from the Lok Sabha who was elected from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was shifted from the women and child development ministry where she was a junior minister.
Reviving India’s agriculture sector and improving farm incomes remain a key challenge for the Modi government.
Farmers in several states have been protesting since June, demanding loan waivers and remunerative crop prices. A record harvest in 2016-17 led to a crash in farm gate prices of key crops which was worsened by the cash crunch following the government’s demonetisation initiative in November 2016.
The first two years of Modi government (2014 and 2015) were marked by a widespread drought across most of India. The spectre of rural distress continued even though the monsoon was normal last year.
Prime Minister Modi has targeted to double farmer incomes by 2022 from their current levels. The agriculture sector employs over half of India’s workforce.
Together with Parshottam Rupala, the farm ministry will now have three ministers of state. S. S. Ahluwalia and Sudarshan Bhagat, who earlier were junior ministers of agriculture, were moved to drinking water and sanitation ministry and tribal affairs ministry, respectively, as junior ministers.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is currently a member of Lok Sabha, representing Jodhpur in Rajasthan. Krishna Raj, also an MP from the Lok Sabha who was elected from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was shifted from the women and child development ministry where she was a junior minister.
Reviving India’s agriculture sector and improving farm incomes remain a key challenge for the Modi government.
Farmers in several states have been protesting since June, demanding loan waivers and remunerative crop prices. A record harvest in 2016-17 led to a crash in farm gate prices of key crops which was worsened by the cash crunch following the government’s demonetisation initiative in November 2016.
The first two years of Modi government (2014 and 2015) were marked by a widespread drought across most of India. The spectre of rural distress continued even though the monsoon was normal last year.
Prime Minister Modi has targeted to double farmer incomes by 2022 from their current levels. The agriculture sector employs over half of India’s workforce.