Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal said on Saturday that his budget speech in the Assembly on Friday did not contain any proposal pertaining to land reforms.
On the other hand, the emphasis was on increasing incomes in the plantation sector through diversification of crops, he told reporters on Saturday.
On Friday Mr. Balagopal had said in his budget speech that new crops need to be included in the plantation sector in addition to rubber, coffee and tea by introducing timely law amendments. The objectives of the Land Reforms Act need to be preserved, he had said.
This proposal, which is not a new one, had already found a mention in the Revised Budget presented by Mr. Balagopal in June 2021. Calling diversification the need of the hour in the plantation sector, the revised budget had also earmarked ₹ 2 crore for initial activities pertaining to cultivation and post-harvest activities for fruits including rambutan, avocado, dragon fruit and mangosteen.
