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{"id":63085,"date":"2026-01-31T16:08:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T10:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/?p=63085"},"modified":"2026-01-31T16:08:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T10:38:57","slug":"empowering-the-naari-from-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/empowering-the-naari-from-agriculture\/","title":{"rendered":"Empowering the \u2018Naari\u2019 from Agriculture"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The first major achievement for 2026 is the Caste-based Census for the entire country. To make this more than a simple headcount and instead a means for targeted welfare, the Budget has to provide for adequate digital infrastructure. This includes training the counting staff to create 1.02 crore man-days of employment, tracked through a Census Management & Monitoring System (CMMS). To make the data as accurate as possible, the Budget should provide for AI-powered validation systems to compare satellite images with ground reports, facilitated by Data Centres that are privacy-compliant according to the DPDA.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Survey points out the risks of climate change; nowhere is this more apparent than in Assam. The Budget must go beyond ad-hoc relief and institutionalize the \u2018Assam River Erosion Management Commission (AREMC)\u2019 on scientific, basin-wise mapping. Noting that erosion is structural, the affected districts must be declared \u2018chronic displacement zones,\u2019 mandating automatic relief through a new \u2018Assam River Erosion and Flood Rehabilitation Authority (ARERA).\u2019 At the same time, national security requires a \u2018Border Security Modernization Fund\u2019 to modernize BSF posts and install indigenous high-definition thermal surveillance systems along riverine borders.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For rural economy activation, the Budget should support the UN\u2019s 2026 Year of Women Farmers by providing a 2-3% MSP bonus on crops where the land is owned by women. In the tea industry, the mission to train 1 lakh women and set up 200 health camps is critical. Industrial support needs sector-specific focus: a National Jute Development Board (with MSP increased to \u20b96,000-6,500) and a National Silk Promotion Board are required. Most importantly, to make the PLI scheme more accessible to MSMEs in these sectors, the investment requirement needs to be reduced from \u20b9100 crore to \u20b925 crore. The Tirupur knitwear industry also needs immediate technology upgradation support and import of zero-duty yarn to remain competitive.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Soft power and future skills require equal focus. To address the imbalance in funding, \u20b9300 crore should be allocated to the \u2018Classical Tamil Global Outreach Scheme\u2019 and \u20b9150 crore to digitize \u2018Thirukkural.\u2019 For the North East, a Leadership Fellowship with \u20b975,000 stipends for 450 students in top institutions will help create a pipeline of talent. For sports, a National Institute of Sports Science and an infrastructure corpus are required to professionalize sports talent development.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Finally, to bridge the gender gap in deep tech, it is recommended that \u201cNaari AI Kendras\u201d be established as Centres of Excellence. These hubs will provide incubation in AI and electronics for women from polytechnics, ensuring diversity in the tech workforce.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ultimately, this year’s Budget can be expected to be decidedly industry-friendly, pro-MSME, and pro-AI. By adapting to the changing world of artificial intelligence and accommodating the digital-first preferences of GenZ, the government seems poised to present a forward-looking roadmap that balances heritage with hyper-modernity.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

*Ritwik Mehta: Ritwik Mehta is the founder of a Youth Led Policy Research Think Tank Niti Tantra<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the Finance Minister set to unveil the Union Budget 2026, the context is set by the Economic Survey 2026, which foresees a \u201cconfident 7% growth path\u201d while also stressing the importance of \u201cstrategic indispensability.\u201d The Economic Survey is absolutely right in saying that the key to resilience is \u201cstructural deepening that enhances data integrity, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63086,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[9852,14176,20,16185],"tags":[41454,41456,33909,41457,41455,41458],"class_list":["post-63085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","category-cover-story","category-india","category-national","tag-naari","tag-border-security-modernization-fund","tag-finance-minister","tag-ritwik-mehta","tag-union-budget-2026","tag-youth-led-policy-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63087,"href":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63085\/revisions\/63087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozinews.in\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}