Madhya Pradesh's price deficit scheme's budget swells due to price fall

State plans to enrol 2 mn oilseed, pulses farmers; till Thursday, less than a million had joined

Even though only 0.9 million farmers have registered for the much-talked about 'Price Deficit Finance Scheme' of the Madhya Pradesh government till Thursday, the state officials are still confident to get at least 40 per cent of the state's nearly 5 million oilseeds and pulses farmers enrolling (around 2 million) for the programme by the time registrations close on October 15.

The overall target itself has come in for strong criticism for being too low, given that 5 million farmers cultivate oilseeds, pulses and maize.

Madhya Pradesh had budgeted to spend around Rs 2,000-3,000 crore on the programme based on its initial