Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R):
Assertion (A): The Union Budget 2020-21 has focused on Rural Development with the aim of doubling farmer i

Question

Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R):
Assertion (A): The Union Budget 2020-21 has focused on Rural Development with the aim of doubling farmer income.
Reason (R): The 16 Action Points announced in the budget are centred around agriculture, irrigation and rural development.
Select the correct answer from the codes given below.

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — A, both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A). The Union Budget 2020-21 (presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February 2020) was built on three themes — Aspirational India, Economic Development and a Caring Society — and under 'Aspirational India' it placed heavy emphasis on agriculture, irrigation and rural development, in line with the Government's stated goal of doubling farmers' income by 2022. To operationalise this the Finance Minister announced a 16-point action plan for agriculture and farmers' welfare (covering water-stressed districts, solarisation of farms under PM-KUSUM, warehousing, the Kisan Rail and Krishi Udaan, among others), with roughly Rs 2.83 lakh crore earmarked for agriculture and allied activities, irrigation and rural development. So both statements are true, and the 16 action points (R) are precisely the mechanism through which the budget pursued rural development and higher farm incomes (A) — making R the correct explanation of A.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) Both are true, but the link is causal — the 16 action points ARE the content of the rural-development/farm-income push, so R does explain A; this option wrongly denies the explanatory link.  (c) R is factually true — the Budget 2020-21 did announce a 16-point action plan focused on agriculture, irrigation and rural development.  (d) A is true — the budget's 'Aspirational India' theme did prioritise rural development with the aim of doubling farmers' income.

Concept: The Union Budget 2020-21 organised its proposals under three themes — Aspirational India, Economic Development and a Caring Society. 'Aspirational India' bundled agriculture, irrigation, rural development, health and education, and it is here that the 16-point action plan for farmers sat, tied to the flagship goal of doubling farmers' income.

State PCS 2020 Q143 — Economy PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2020 Q143 — Economy PYQ with Answer