Monsoon plays truant. Monsoon goes dry. Monsoon may skip much of India this year. These are the usual headlines that we have become accustomed to. After all, a failed monsoon and the resulting drought are considered to be weather aberrations that happen at regular intervals.
Scientists tell us that on an average you can expect a drought year every 7 or 8 years. In other words, monsoon can go dry or skip the date once in a while. This is the long-term average but it does not mean that you cannot have two consecutive monsoons failing in a row.
India's over-dependence on monsoon especially for agriculture and food security has therefore come in for sharp criticism. I have often been asked why India is unable to wriggle out of the monsoon trap, and I have always felt amused at this stupid question. I am aware that it is convenient to use the monsoon failure tag to push for more big irrigation projects, which the financial newspapers in India are always keen to promote. While the economists and economic writers are unhappy with the monsoon not keeping its date religiously and faltering every now and then, I see the weather phenomenon is fast catching up with global economy where a financial collapse every 5-7 years is now becoming a reality. But no questions are being asked, no fool-proof system is being put in place. It is being accepted as if it is a monsoon failure, much beyond our control.
I thought monsoon is a weather phenomenon over which we have no control. But how come the markets too have picked up the monsoon pattern? How come the world has been forced to accept recurring market failures as if it is no different from a drought year, which can happen every 5-6 years on an average?
Look at how Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, explained to his school-going daughter what a financial crisis was. "It’s the kind of thing that happens every 5-7 years.” (New York Times News Service). Well, Jamie Dimon is right. Knowing that the governments all over the world are more than willing to bail them out of the financial mess every 5-7 years, he has nothing to fear. Nor does his daughter. She may not understand now, but the fact is that the bailouts have saved her father's job and also provided him huge bonuses to ensure her opulent lifestyle.
I draw your attention to an interesting article: "Get ready for the next 'Great Crash' " (Economic Times, June 30). The article says: ".. the history of modern markets is a story of meltdowns. The stock market crashed in 1987, the bond market in 1994. Mexico tanked in 1994, East Asia in 1997. Long-Term Capital Management blew up in 1998, Russia that same year. Dot-coms dotbombed in 2000. In 2007 — well, you know the rest.
And that was just the last 20 years or so. The stagflation of the 1970s, the Depression of the 1930s, the panics in the 1900s ... and back and back and back it goes, all the way to the Dutch and their tulip bulbs. "
At this wild rate, Wall Street's performance is much worse than that of the monsoon. With the G-20 leaders not expressing any urgency to stop this recurring phenomenon, and in fact seem to be simply endorsing the fraudulent economic system that leads to a cancerous growth, the next 'Great Crash' as the article says (see the link: http://bit.ly/dBjkdN) is coming fast. Guaranteed.
"Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow. But, in all likelihood, sooner than we think."
We are being made accustomed to the impending economic collapse. Because they have once again to use our money (as tax-payers) to bail out the fraudulent financial system. We did it in 2008-09 when we provided $ 20 trillion as bailouts. If we had refused to do so, the markets would have collapsed, the banks would have collapsed and the financial system would have been left gasping for breath.
We are certainly helpless before the weather gods. But we are being made to appear helpless before the great financial swindlers too. It is We, the people, who have failed to take the bull by the horn. Don't blame G-20 leaders or the World Bank/IMF, the fault for the financial cesspool rests with you and me. Unless we wake up, and exercise our authority, economic meltdowns will continue to happen, and your pocket would be emptied every time without you even realising it.
G-20 refuses to pick up the broken pieces of a fraudulent pyramid of growth; count your days for an impending economic collapse
The G-20 Toronto party is over. The leaders have gone home. The world has now to pick up the broom and sweep the floor. Perhaps learn to live amidst the economic dirt they have left behind.
Screams a newspaper intro: "With the global economy on its way to recovery amid debt crisis in some European countries, the G-20 on Monday called a striking balance between stimulus measures to sustain economic expansion and reducing fiscal deficit to tackle the mess of government finance." If you try to read the G-20 declaration, although it reads like a page from any text book that the economics and management students are forced to read nowadays, the leaders conclude that they can do much better.
"The IMF and World Bank estimate that if we choose a more ambitious path of reforms, over the medium term, we could:
• raise global output by up to $4 trillion;
• create an estimated 52 million jobs;
• lift up to 90 million people out of poverty; and
• significantly reduce global current account balances.
If we act in a coordinated manner, all regions are better off, now and in the future. Moreover, increasing global growth on a sustainable basis is the most important step we can take in improving the lives of all, including those in the poorest countries."
Now we know. Why these leaders have made a mess of the global economy. They continue to follow the economic prescription being doled out by the IMF and the World Bank, who were primarily responsible for putting the world into an unforeseen crisis in the first hand. I have always been saying, more so in the Indian context and which holds true globally, how can you ask those who are responsible for the crisis to suggest solutions?
Only an idiot can seek advise from IMF and World Bank to put back the global economy on the path to recovery.
Let us not go into the outlandish figures of creating jobs and reducing hunger, but let us look at the IMF and World Bank estimates of raising global output. The G-20 expects that speeding the reforms (and cutting on fiscal deficit) will raise global output by $ 4 trillion. Ha ! Isn't it amusing? The world has pumped in more than $ 20 trillion to bail out banks and the financial systems in 2008-09 alone, and you expect a recovery in terms of global output by a mere $ 4 trillion!
In other words, the tax payers globally have already provided an economic stimulus of $ 20 trillion and that without battling an eyelid. Which means they have shelled out what the world expects by way of output for the next five years !!
If only this stimulus had gone to provide the real stimulus to the economy (rather than writing off the losses of the banks, and providing bonuses to corrupt bankers), the $ 20 trillion would have wiped out poverty and hunger from the face of the Earth (not only pull out 90 million from hunger, as the G-20 projects) and also provided for jobs to all and sundry.
The problem is that the G-20 does not represent the people. The G-20 represents the corporations. They will therefore continue to make fool of us by throwing these magical figures. This is the only way they can fill the pockets of business and trade.
"The truth is that the entire world economic system is broken. It is built on a fraudulent pyramid of debt, derivatives, central banking and paper money that is doomed to fail. But world leaders will continue to keep it alive for as long as they can." (Budget Cuts? in The Economic Collapse). I agree with this analysis. In fact, as a commentator wrote: "the fact remains that GDP is a false metric for the health of an economy; GDP includes government spending. Measured without federal government spending, the economy has been contracting at some -2.5% per quarter for the last six quarters. All that government spending has done is to mask the true state of the economy, provided congress with slush funds, and push the social(ist) agenda of those in power. It has temporarily delayed (and made worse by an order of magnitude) the inevitable crash that is coming, and lengthened the recovery time to decades instead of 2-3 years, if any recovery is indeed possible.
Benron, Federal government, and the Big Six on Wall Street have learned nothing from their ’study’ of the Great Depression – they’re using the same playbook consisting of a single maneuver. And we can count on Obama to do exactly the opposite of what he says he’ll do, as he has proven every time he opens his mouth. Get ready for QEII, more of the Extend and Pretend economy, and more fed.gov statistics that are totally divorced from reality."
The path to 'economic recovery' that is being suggested is through increasing FDI in agriculture. The G-20 declaration talks about it very clearly, and also promises to update the leaders with the progress in the forthcoming Seoul Summit in November. I will analyse it later as to what it means for the future of farming and the farming communities.
Meanwhile, read this excellent analysis Budget Cuts? on The Economic Collapse site. http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/budget-cuts
Screams a newspaper intro: "With the global economy on its way to recovery amid debt crisis in some European countries, the G-20 on Monday called a striking balance between stimulus measures to sustain economic expansion and reducing fiscal deficit to tackle the mess of government finance." If you try to read the G-20 declaration, although it reads like a page from any text book that the economics and management students are forced to read nowadays, the leaders conclude that they can do much better.
"The IMF and World Bank estimate that if we choose a more ambitious path of reforms, over the medium term, we could:
• raise global output by up to $4 trillion;
• create an estimated 52 million jobs;
• lift up to 90 million people out of poverty; and
• significantly reduce global current account balances.
If we act in a coordinated manner, all regions are better off, now and in the future. Moreover, increasing global growth on a sustainable basis is the most important step we can take in improving the lives of all, including those in the poorest countries."
Now we know. Why these leaders have made a mess of the global economy. They continue to follow the economic prescription being doled out by the IMF and the World Bank, who were primarily responsible for putting the world into an unforeseen crisis in the first hand. I have always been saying, more so in the Indian context and which holds true globally, how can you ask those who are responsible for the crisis to suggest solutions?
Only an idiot can seek advise from IMF and World Bank to put back the global economy on the path to recovery.
Let us not go into the outlandish figures of creating jobs and reducing hunger, but let us look at the IMF and World Bank estimates of raising global output. The G-20 expects that speeding the reforms (and cutting on fiscal deficit) will raise global output by $ 4 trillion. Ha ! Isn't it amusing? The world has pumped in more than $ 20 trillion to bail out banks and the financial systems in 2008-09 alone, and you expect a recovery in terms of global output by a mere $ 4 trillion!
In other words, the tax payers globally have already provided an economic stimulus of $ 20 trillion and that without battling an eyelid. Which means they have shelled out what the world expects by way of output for the next five years !!
If only this stimulus had gone to provide the real stimulus to the economy (rather than writing off the losses of the banks, and providing bonuses to corrupt bankers), the $ 20 trillion would have wiped out poverty and hunger from the face of the Earth (not only pull out 90 million from hunger, as the G-20 projects) and also provided for jobs to all and sundry.
The problem is that the G-20 does not represent the people. The G-20 represents the corporations. They will therefore continue to make fool of us by throwing these magical figures. This is the only way they can fill the pockets of business and trade.
"The truth is that the entire world economic system is broken. It is built on a fraudulent pyramid of debt, derivatives, central banking and paper money that is doomed to fail. But world leaders will continue to keep it alive for as long as they can." (Budget Cuts? in The Economic Collapse). I agree with this analysis. In fact, as a commentator wrote: "the fact remains that GDP is a false metric for the health of an economy; GDP includes government spending. Measured without federal government spending, the economy has been contracting at some -2.5% per quarter for the last six quarters. All that government spending has done is to mask the true state of the economy, provided congress with slush funds, and push the social(ist) agenda of those in power. It has temporarily delayed (and made worse by an order of magnitude) the inevitable crash that is coming, and lengthened the recovery time to decades instead of 2-3 years, if any recovery is indeed possible.
Benron, Federal government, and the Big Six on Wall Street have learned nothing from their ’study’ of the Great Depression – they’re using the same playbook consisting of a single maneuver. And we can count on Obama to do exactly the opposite of what he says he’ll do, as he has proven every time he opens his mouth. Get ready for QEII, more of the Extend and Pretend economy, and more fed.gov statistics that are totally divorced from reality."
The path to 'economic recovery' that is being suggested is through increasing FDI in agriculture. The G-20 declaration talks about it very clearly, and also promises to update the leaders with the progress in the forthcoming Seoul Summit in November. I will analyse it later as to what it means for the future of farming and the farming communities.
Meanwhile, read this excellent analysis Budget Cuts? on The Economic Collapse site. http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/budget-cuts
Seed Bill 2010: Brace up to make the seed industry accountable
A National Consultation on Seed Bill was organised in New Delhi on June 11. We had invited some 50 key actors from the civil society, academia, farmer organisations, legal fraternity, NGOs etc from across the country to deliberate on the proposed bill, and to make specific clause by clause changes, if needed. Based on its conclusions, the following recommendations are being made to make the proposed law more effective in providing good quality seeds to farmers at an affordable price.
The amendments that are being proposed (as you will see below) have to be read in consonance with the amendments being sought by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. This is a long post. But I thought it would be helpful to share the exact changes the National Consultation has come up with, so that it can help us to understand and mobilise public opinion to bring in the necessary changes. As you are aware, the amendments proposed by Sharad Pawar are already before Rajya Sabha. It is expected that the Bill will come up for discussion in the forthcoming monsoon session of parliament. Therefore the urgency.
The present draft of the Seed Bill 2004 which is pending before Rajya Sabha, read together with the amendments proposed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, will become the new Seed Bill 2010. Most of the amendments proposed by Sharad Pawar are based on the recommendations of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture.
The Seed Bill 2010 has kept farmers out of its purview. Accepting the recommendation of the Standing Committee, the Seed Bill 2010 clearly states that it will not restrict the right of the farmer to grow, sow, re-sow, save, exchange, share or sell his farm seeds and planting material except when they are into the business of selling branded seeds. At the same time it has also expanded the definition of a ‘farmer’ to include all those who conserve or preserve, severally or jointly with any person, any traditional varieties or adds value to such traditional varieties through selection and identification of their useful properties.
Since the Seed Bill 2010 focuses exclusively on the commercial production, sale and distribution of good quality seeds by seed companies and the public sector agencies, and the farmers as well as the informal seed saving and cultivation system is outside its ambit, following suggestions are being made to provide more teeth to the legal process so as to curb the malpractices in the seed business.
1. The Seed Bill 2010 has very rightly excluded farmers, who constitute the major proportion of seed handlers and users, from its purview. Therefore to dispel any confusion and ambiguity about its objective and role, the proposed Seed Bill 2010 should be called: “The Commercial Seeds (Regulation) Bill, 2010”.
2. The Seed Bill 2010 in its present form appears to be merely an extension of the previous efforts to control and regulate the seed trade. The proposed amendments once again favour private seed companies and corporations at the expense of farmers. Over the years, sale of spurious and sub-standard seeds has grown, and in the absence of any price controls, farmers are not only being fleeced but are increasingly being burdened with rising cost of cultivation thereby rendering farming unremunerative.
The proposed Seed Bill 2010 in its present form will fail to ensure availability of good quality seeds at an affordable price for reasons explained below:
a) The Seed Bill 2010 does not propose any price controls. Farmers must be able to purchase seed at an affordable price. This is very important since the output price (or the procurement price) is fixed by the government, and often do not take into consideration the prevailing market price for seed. The procurement price therefore does not reflect the true cost of seed. At present, companies are charging prices at will and that too without any rationale. Tomato seed price for instance varies between Rs 475 to Rs 76,000 per kg, and Capsicum seed price between Rs 3,670 to Rs 65,200 a kg. More recently, seed companies have taken the Andhra Pradesh government to the High Court challenging its decision to regulate prices and royalty. Therefore, the function of the Seed Committee under the Seed Bill must include power to decide on price and price controls (including royalties).
In the absence of such measures, the government forfeits the right to claim that it is making quality seed available to farmers at an affordable price. Standing Committee had also raised this. Therefore clause 5 must include a sub-section (g) : “Seed price control and supply, including procedure for fixing seed prices and royalties.”
b) Provision for re-registration would increase the monopoly of the seed company for at least 20 years. This is unacceptable for the simple reason that it brings in monopoly control (which exists under TRIPs provisions) over seed through the back door. Standing Committee had also voted against this. Section 13 (5) therefore must be deleted.
c) Penalties proposed are trivial. Since the penalties/punishments have been mild, the government has failed to check the menace of fake, spurious and sub-standard seeds. Providing a maximum fine of Rs 30,000 for selling seeds not conforming to the laid-out standards is simply not enough. This is almost equal to the return airfare between New Delhi and Thiruvanthapuram. The Seed Bill 2010 therefore must provide for deterring punishment.
d) While seeds may be registered with the National Register of Seeds, it is imperative that State Governments must be given the authority to decide on which of these registered seeds can be licensed to be used in their State, Clause 12 should be amended accordingly.
In any case, it is incumbent on the Seed Registration Committee to ensure that the application for registration contains complete passport data of the parental lines from which the kind or variety of seed has been derived in as complete a form as possible so that the Seed Committees do not register misappropriated seed or common varieties.
3. The Seed (Control) Order, 1983 had allowed the unbridled import under open-general license of planting material and seeds of flowers, vegetables and horticultural crops. This Order was exploited by unscrupulous seed trade and business to import plant materials without undergoing any rigorous phytosanitary and quality checks. Most of the importing agencies did not even deposit a sample of the imported seed with the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources. It is believed that the imports have come with a heavy load of pests and diseases posing serious damages to crop cultivation and to the country’s food security. Many hitherto unknown pests have also entered the country.
a) All imports of seeds therefore must undergo mandatory seed testing procedures, including multi-location trials, to ensure its adaptability to the Indian conditions. No self-testing or certificates from foreign seed certification agencies should hold true for Indian conditions.
b) Seed imports should only be allowed after pest risk analysis, local adaptability have been assessed. There is a need for a liability clause to be introduced that makes seed exporter responsible for any pest outbreak and also for the clean-up operations. This assumes importance in the wake of the Bhopal gas tragedy where the chemical companies have simply evaded any liability for the toxic clean-up. Such a clause will be in conformity with the sanitary and phytosanitary obligations under the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Therefore the civil society seeks following specific amendments in the proposed Seed Bill.
AMENDMENTS PROPOSED FOR THE SEEDS BILL 2010
(Please remember, these are in addition to the amendments already moved by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar)
TITLE OF THE BILL
1. Title of the Bill: The title of the bill may be replaced with 'Commercial Seeds (Regulation) Bill, 2010'
OBJECTIVE OF THE BILL
2. Amendment in the objective of the Bill:
A bill to provide for regulating the quality of seeds and their price for sale, import and export and to facilitate timely availability of appropriate and adequate quantities of diverse varieties of seed to farmers in a transparent and accountable regime, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
ABOUT REGISTERING AND STATE POWERS TO LICENSE TO USE
3. Section 14 on Procedure for Registration: Change 14 (2) to include pre-registration testing. Substitute 14(2) by this: “On receipt of any application for the registration of a kind or variety of seed, the Registration Sub-Committee, shall, after such mandatory testing as required, and other such inquiry that it deems fit and after satisfying itself that the kind or variety of seed to which the application relates conforms to the claims made by the importer or the producer/seller, as the case may be, as regards the efficacy of the kind or variety of seed and its safety to human beings and animals, register the kind of variety, as the case may be, of the seed on such conditions as may be specified by it and allot a registration number thereto and issue a certification of registration.”
4. Introduce Section 14(3): “No producer/dealer sell the registered seeds in a State unless the said seed is licensed as such under this Act by the State government. The State government may maintain such list of licensed seeds that can be sold in the state.”
5. DELETE Section 13, clause (5) on re-registration.
ABOUT IMPORTED SEEDS AND FOREIGN CERTIFICATION AGENCIES
6. DELETE Section 30 completely on recognition for foreign certification agencies.
7. Section 36, Clause 1 on Import & Export of Seed: Change 36 (1) (C) to: “All import of seed meant for commercial purposes shall be subject to registration as may be granted on the basis of information furnished by the importer on the results of multi-locational trials conducted in such manner and for such period as may be prescribed to establish performance in India and specifically in the agro-ecological areas where the seed is sought to be sold.”
8. Insert 36 (1) (C) “ In case of any problem arising from such imported seeds, like pest, disease and weed invasion, genetic contamination etc both the importer and exporter be held responsible. Import of seed should be based on pest risk analysis, and any exporter whose claims turn out to be incorrect should be held liable. Exporter of seed should compensate the loss and cleanup of any such contamination”
ABOUT PRICE CONTROL AND FIXING OF PRICES AND ROYALITIES
9. Section 5 on Powers & Functions of the Committee: Insert 5 (c) to the current Section 5 by inserting clause 5 (c) as: “Seed Price control and Supply, including procedure for fixing seed prices and royalties”.
10. Section 11 on State Seed Committee: Insert in the existing (a) to (e) list – “to register and license seeds suitable for the state, based on agronomic trials’ data and fix prices of seeds registered; to collect data and review performance of seeds after the authorization through licensing”.
COMPENSATION MECHANISM TO FARMERS
11. Section 20 on Compensation to Farmer: The following to be substituted as Section 20 (1): “where the seed of a registered kind or variety is sold to the farmer, the producer, distributor or vendor, as the case may be, shall disclose the expected performance of such kind or variety to the farmer under given conditions and if such registered seed fails to provide the promised performance under such given conditions, the farmer may claim such compensation from such producer, dealer, distributor or vendor as may be determined by a Compensation Committee provided that such compensation is equal at least to the monetary value of the promised performance and covers the costs incurred by the farmer”.
12. Section 20 on Compensation to Farmer: Substitute Section 20, clause (2) (b) as moved by the Agriculture Minister: “The procedure to be followed by such a Compensation Committee should be completed within thirty days of the filing of a claim by an aggrieved farmer”.
Substitute Section 20, clause (2) (d) as moved by the Agriculture Minister: “Such compensation is payable to the farmer within three months after the compensation so determined”.
BRINGING NBA AND PVPFR INTO DECISION MAKING
13. Section 4 on Central Seed Committee: 4 (3) (viii) – a member of the Plant Varieties Protection Authority, Government of India and 4 (3) (ix) – a representative of the National Biodiversity Authority, Government of India.
IMPROVING ACCOUNTABILITY
14. Section 7 on Registration Committee: Section 7 (2) (a): Change to “To register seeds of varieties after scrutinizing their claims as made in the application in such manner as may be prescribed including random pre-registration testing”.
MORE EFFECTIVE PENALTIES ON OFFENCES
15. Section 38 (1) page 14 line 7 on Offences and Punishment: Substitute the following after ‘be punishable with’ – “a fine in proportion to the damage caused, quantity of seed supplied or stocked and therefore, to cover the real and potential loss to farmers, in addition to a fine not less than Rs. 200000/- (two lac rupees), which may extend to Rs. 10,00,000 (ten lac rupees) and imprisonment for six months to one year. Further, any individual or company convicted under this Act may be banned from any seed-related activity by the state government upon subsequent convictions”.
That at page 14, lines 12 and 13, for the words: “thirty thousand”, the word “two lakh” be substituted.
That at page 14, line 17, for the words “one lakh”, the word “ten lakhs” be substituted.
The amendments that are being proposed (as you will see below) have to be read in consonance with the amendments being sought by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. This is a long post. But I thought it would be helpful to share the exact changes the National Consultation has come up with, so that it can help us to understand and mobilise public opinion to bring in the necessary changes. As you are aware, the amendments proposed by Sharad Pawar are already before Rajya Sabha. It is expected that the Bill will come up for discussion in the forthcoming monsoon session of parliament. Therefore the urgency.
The present draft of the Seed Bill 2004 which is pending before Rajya Sabha, read together with the amendments proposed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, will become the new Seed Bill 2010. Most of the amendments proposed by Sharad Pawar are based on the recommendations of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture.
The Seed Bill 2010 has kept farmers out of its purview. Accepting the recommendation of the Standing Committee, the Seed Bill 2010 clearly states that it will not restrict the right of the farmer to grow, sow, re-sow, save, exchange, share or sell his farm seeds and planting material except when they are into the business of selling branded seeds. At the same time it has also expanded the definition of a ‘farmer’ to include all those who conserve or preserve, severally or jointly with any person, any traditional varieties or adds value to such traditional varieties through selection and identification of their useful properties.
Since the Seed Bill 2010 focuses exclusively on the commercial production, sale and distribution of good quality seeds by seed companies and the public sector agencies, and the farmers as well as the informal seed saving and cultivation system is outside its ambit, following suggestions are being made to provide more teeth to the legal process so as to curb the malpractices in the seed business.
1. The Seed Bill 2010 has very rightly excluded farmers, who constitute the major proportion of seed handlers and users, from its purview. Therefore to dispel any confusion and ambiguity about its objective and role, the proposed Seed Bill 2010 should be called: “The Commercial Seeds (Regulation) Bill, 2010”.
2. The Seed Bill 2010 in its present form appears to be merely an extension of the previous efforts to control and regulate the seed trade. The proposed amendments once again favour private seed companies and corporations at the expense of farmers. Over the years, sale of spurious and sub-standard seeds has grown, and in the absence of any price controls, farmers are not only being fleeced but are increasingly being burdened with rising cost of cultivation thereby rendering farming unremunerative.
The proposed Seed Bill 2010 in its present form will fail to ensure availability of good quality seeds at an affordable price for reasons explained below:
a) The Seed Bill 2010 does not propose any price controls. Farmers must be able to purchase seed at an affordable price. This is very important since the output price (or the procurement price) is fixed by the government, and often do not take into consideration the prevailing market price for seed. The procurement price therefore does not reflect the true cost of seed. At present, companies are charging prices at will and that too without any rationale. Tomato seed price for instance varies between Rs 475 to Rs 76,000 per kg, and Capsicum seed price between Rs 3,670 to Rs 65,200 a kg. More recently, seed companies have taken the Andhra Pradesh government to the High Court challenging its decision to regulate prices and royalty. Therefore, the function of the Seed Committee under the Seed Bill must include power to decide on price and price controls (including royalties).
In the absence of such measures, the government forfeits the right to claim that it is making quality seed available to farmers at an affordable price. Standing Committee had also raised this. Therefore clause 5 must include a sub-section (g) : “Seed price control and supply, including procedure for fixing seed prices and royalties.”
b) Provision for re-registration would increase the monopoly of the seed company for at least 20 years. This is unacceptable for the simple reason that it brings in monopoly control (which exists under TRIPs provisions) over seed through the back door. Standing Committee had also voted against this. Section 13 (5) therefore must be deleted.
c) Penalties proposed are trivial. Since the penalties/punishments have been mild, the government has failed to check the menace of fake, spurious and sub-standard seeds. Providing a maximum fine of Rs 30,000 for selling seeds not conforming to the laid-out standards is simply not enough. This is almost equal to the return airfare between New Delhi and Thiruvanthapuram. The Seed Bill 2010 therefore must provide for deterring punishment.
d) While seeds may be registered with the National Register of Seeds, it is imperative that State Governments must be given the authority to decide on which of these registered seeds can be licensed to be used in their State, Clause 12 should be amended accordingly.
In any case, it is incumbent on the Seed Registration Committee to ensure that the application for registration contains complete passport data of the parental lines from which the kind or variety of seed has been derived in as complete a form as possible so that the Seed Committees do not register misappropriated seed or common varieties.
3. The Seed (Control) Order, 1983 had allowed the unbridled import under open-general license of planting material and seeds of flowers, vegetables and horticultural crops. This Order was exploited by unscrupulous seed trade and business to import plant materials without undergoing any rigorous phytosanitary and quality checks. Most of the importing agencies did not even deposit a sample of the imported seed with the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources. It is believed that the imports have come with a heavy load of pests and diseases posing serious damages to crop cultivation and to the country’s food security. Many hitherto unknown pests have also entered the country.
a) All imports of seeds therefore must undergo mandatory seed testing procedures, including multi-location trials, to ensure its adaptability to the Indian conditions. No self-testing or certificates from foreign seed certification agencies should hold true for Indian conditions.
b) Seed imports should only be allowed after pest risk analysis, local adaptability have been assessed. There is a need for a liability clause to be introduced that makes seed exporter responsible for any pest outbreak and also for the clean-up operations. This assumes importance in the wake of the Bhopal gas tragedy where the chemical companies have simply evaded any liability for the toxic clean-up. Such a clause will be in conformity with the sanitary and phytosanitary obligations under the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Therefore the civil society seeks following specific amendments in the proposed Seed Bill.
AMENDMENTS PROPOSED FOR THE SEEDS BILL 2010
(Please remember, these are in addition to the amendments already moved by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar)
TITLE OF THE BILL
1. Title of the Bill: The title of the bill may be replaced with 'Commercial Seeds (Regulation) Bill, 2010'
OBJECTIVE OF THE BILL
2. Amendment in the objective of the Bill:
A bill to provide for regulating the quality of seeds and their price for sale, import and export and to facilitate timely availability of appropriate and adequate quantities of diverse varieties of seed to farmers in a transparent and accountable regime, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
ABOUT REGISTERING AND STATE POWERS TO LICENSE TO USE
3. Section 14 on Procedure for Registration: Change 14 (2) to include pre-registration testing. Substitute 14(2) by this: “On receipt of any application for the registration of a kind or variety of seed, the Registration Sub-Committee, shall, after such mandatory testing as required, and other such inquiry that it deems fit and after satisfying itself that the kind or variety of seed to which the application relates conforms to the claims made by the importer or the producer/seller, as the case may be, as regards the efficacy of the kind or variety of seed and its safety to human beings and animals, register the kind of variety, as the case may be, of the seed on such conditions as may be specified by it and allot a registration number thereto and issue a certification of registration.”
4. Introduce Section 14(3): “No producer/dealer sell the registered seeds in a State unless the said seed is licensed as such under this Act by the State government. The State government may maintain such list of licensed seeds that can be sold in the state.”
5. DELETE Section 13, clause (5) on re-registration.
ABOUT IMPORTED SEEDS AND FOREIGN CERTIFICATION AGENCIES
6. DELETE Section 30 completely on recognition for foreign certification agencies.
7. Section 36, Clause 1 on Import & Export of Seed: Change 36 (1) (C) to: “All import of seed meant for commercial purposes shall be subject to registration as may be granted on the basis of information furnished by the importer on the results of multi-locational trials conducted in such manner and for such period as may be prescribed to establish performance in India and specifically in the agro-ecological areas where the seed is sought to be sold.”
8. Insert 36 (1) (C) “ In case of any problem arising from such imported seeds, like pest, disease and weed invasion, genetic contamination etc both the importer and exporter be held responsible. Import of seed should be based on pest risk analysis, and any exporter whose claims turn out to be incorrect should be held liable. Exporter of seed should compensate the loss and cleanup of any such contamination”
ABOUT PRICE CONTROL AND FIXING OF PRICES AND ROYALITIES
9. Section 5 on Powers & Functions of the Committee: Insert 5 (c) to the current Section 5 by inserting clause 5 (c) as: “Seed Price control and Supply, including procedure for fixing seed prices and royalties”.
10. Section 11 on State Seed Committee: Insert in the existing (a) to (e) list – “to register and license seeds suitable for the state, based on agronomic trials’ data and fix prices of seeds registered; to collect data and review performance of seeds after the authorization through licensing”.
COMPENSATION MECHANISM TO FARMERS
11. Section 20 on Compensation to Farmer: The following to be substituted as Section 20 (1): “where the seed of a registered kind or variety is sold to the farmer, the producer, distributor or vendor, as the case may be, shall disclose the expected performance of such kind or variety to the farmer under given conditions and if such registered seed fails to provide the promised performance under such given conditions, the farmer may claim such compensation from such producer, dealer, distributor or vendor as may be determined by a Compensation Committee provided that such compensation is equal at least to the monetary value of the promised performance and covers the costs incurred by the farmer”.
12. Section 20 on Compensation to Farmer: Substitute Section 20, clause (2) (b) as moved by the Agriculture Minister: “The procedure to be followed by such a Compensation Committee should be completed within thirty days of the filing of a claim by an aggrieved farmer”.
Substitute Section 20, clause (2) (d) as moved by the Agriculture Minister: “Such compensation is payable to the farmer within three months after the compensation so determined”.
BRINGING NBA AND PVPFR INTO DECISION MAKING
13. Section 4 on Central Seed Committee: 4 (3) (viii) – a member of the Plant Varieties Protection Authority, Government of India and 4 (3) (ix) – a representative of the National Biodiversity Authority, Government of India.
IMPROVING ACCOUNTABILITY
14. Section 7 on Registration Committee: Section 7 (2) (a): Change to “To register seeds of varieties after scrutinizing their claims as made in the application in such manner as may be prescribed including random pre-registration testing”.
MORE EFFECTIVE PENALTIES ON OFFENCES
15. Section 38 (1) page 14 line 7 on Offences and Punishment: Substitute the following after ‘be punishable with’ – “a fine in proportion to the damage caused, quantity of seed supplied or stocked and therefore, to cover the real and potential loss to farmers, in addition to a fine not less than Rs. 200000/- (two lac rupees), which may extend to Rs. 10,00,000 (ten lac rupees) and imprisonment for six months to one year. Further, any individual or company convicted under this Act may be banned from any seed-related activity by the state government upon subsequent convictions”.
That at page 14, lines 12 and 13, for the words: “thirty thousand”, the word “two lakh” be substituted.
That at page 14, line 17, for the words “one lakh”, the word “ten lakhs” be substituted.
Now, get ready to drench your crop fields with herbicides
After having destroyed soil fertility from excessive and continuous application of chemical fertilisers, agricultural scientists are now telling you to kill the remaining 'life' in your soils by drenching the crop fields with chemical herbicides. Funds from the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna are being used to promote 'zero tillage' across the country, a flawed technology that is being pushed at the behest of the pesticide companies.
This suggestion comes at a time when remote sensing data collected by NASA satellites have confirmed that the growth rate of foodgrain production in India has been stagnant in the last decade.
The other day, a news report " 'Zero tillage' method to save labour and water" (Hindustan Times, June 26, 2010) caught my eyes. This is how it began: "Now, Indian farmers can grow paddy within days of harvesting their wheat crops -- and that too without ploughing the field." The Lucknow dated news report quoted scientists at the CSA University of Agriculture and Technology in Kanpur. Following successful field trials in three blocks of Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh, the new technique has gone 'live' in three districts of central Uttar Pradesh -- Kanpur, Kanpur Dehat and Kannauj.
'Zero tillage' is now being followed in over 100,000 hectares across the country. Although scientists are trying to create an hype by saying that 'zero tillage' increase yield, in reality it provides no significant improvement in yields. In several cases, the yields have come down. Also, it provides no reduction in the cost of cultivation. With new equipments and more herbicides, the cost remains in the same bracket.
Now, before I move ahead, it is important to examine the first para of the news report. It effectively means that 'zero tillage' enables farmers to undertake sowing of paddy within days of harvesting wheat. But I wonder, why do farmers need to sow paddy within days of harvesting wheat? There is a gap of about one and a half month to two months in the harvest of wheat and the transplanting of paddy in the northern belt of the country. Wheat is harvested in the last week of March or in the first week of April, and the transplanting of paddy takes place after the onset of monsoon rains in the month of July.
Aren't scientists therefore deceiving farmers (and of course the policy makers so that they can allocate funds) in order to justify the need for this new technology?
Now read this: "Zero tillage means there is no activity on field, the moisture level present in soil is maintained. seeds of new crops germinate with the help of the ambient moisture in the soil," says Dr V P N Singh, research director of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna at CSA University. The catch lies here: "We have selected a new weedicide known as sulpho-sulphura. It will be sprinkled on the land along with other weedicides to remove weeds completely." Which are the other weedicides? Roundup Ready of Monsanto, Isoproturon etc.
Zero tillage is also being promoted in the name of conservation agriculture [I draw your attention to my article: New language, Old crisis http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/mar/dsh-sustag.htm]
I had written that conservation agriculture is about no tillage. It is based on minimal soil disturbance, organic residue retention and crop rotations. It is believed that the shift to zero tillage or minimal tillage will not disturb the soil, and therefore help in conserving natural resources. I've always thought earthworms were nature's tillers, so it's not clear to me exactly what zero tillage would amount to, since the earthworms would go on tilling anyway, unmindful of new agricultural terminology. Bhaskar Save tells us that earthworms turn around 6 tonnes of soil in its short lifespan. Zero tillage sounds unfamiliar in the Indian context!
Zero tillage has brought about its own industry. And that is what primarily interests agricultural scientists. Among the new conservation technologies required are: Laser land levellers, which have thus far been imported, but some of whose parts are now being fabricated locally; Zero till planters, including the second generation 'Happy Seeders' and 'Turbo Seeders;' Rotatory Disc Drills used for intensive soil working; and of course a range of herbicides.
All this equipment has been suitably modified and redesigned. Among the planter prototypes, you now have the multifunctional-multicrop-ferti-seed-zero till/raised bed planters. Don't bother trying to understand its multifunctional operations; there are already 150 fabricators and entrepreneurs breathing down our necks pitching the device. Which makes me wonder why agriculture scientists never think beyond costly equipment and endless chemicals. Why do they have to rely on imported concepts of sustainability, and the technology options linked to those ideas? Why can't they look inwards, search for the wonderful low-external-input technologies that local farmers have perfected over the years?
The answer is that they are actually not working for farmers anymore. Farmers just happen to be incidental, coming in handy to promote the machines, chemicals and the hybrid/GM seeds. If only they had listened to farmers, spent more time understanding and then improving sustainable farming systems, the face of Indian agriculture would have been ever-smiling. Farmers have all the answers, and they in fact it is they who need to show us the way towards sustainable agriculture, wherein the natural resource base remains protected and preserved.
To those who think 'Zero tillage' helps in carbon sequestration, here is my response http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/2010/03/does-zero-tillage-help-in-carbon.html
This suggestion comes at a time when remote sensing data collected by NASA satellites have confirmed that the growth rate of foodgrain production in India has been stagnant in the last decade.
The other day, a news report " 'Zero tillage' method to save labour and water" (Hindustan Times, June 26, 2010) caught my eyes. This is how it began: "Now, Indian farmers can grow paddy within days of harvesting their wheat crops -- and that too without ploughing the field." The Lucknow dated news report quoted scientists at the CSA University of Agriculture and Technology in Kanpur. Following successful field trials in three blocks of Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh, the new technique has gone 'live' in three districts of central Uttar Pradesh -- Kanpur, Kanpur Dehat and Kannauj.
'Zero tillage' is now being followed in over 100,000 hectares across the country. Although scientists are trying to create an hype by saying that 'zero tillage' increase yield, in reality it provides no significant improvement in yields. In several cases, the yields have come down. Also, it provides no reduction in the cost of cultivation. With new equipments and more herbicides, the cost remains in the same bracket.
Now, before I move ahead, it is important to examine the first para of the news report. It effectively means that 'zero tillage' enables farmers to undertake sowing of paddy within days of harvesting wheat. But I wonder, why do farmers need to sow paddy within days of harvesting wheat? There is a gap of about one and a half month to two months in the harvest of wheat and the transplanting of paddy in the northern belt of the country. Wheat is harvested in the last week of March or in the first week of April, and the transplanting of paddy takes place after the onset of monsoon rains in the month of July.
Aren't scientists therefore deceiving farmers (and of course the policy makers so that they can allocate funds) in order to justify the need for this new technology?
Now read this: "Zero tillage means there is no activity on field, the moisture level present in soil is maintained. seeds of new crops germinate with the help of the ambient moisture in the soil," says Dr V P N Singh, research director of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna at CSA University. The catch lies here: "We have selected a new weedicide known as sulpho-sulphura. It will be sprinkled on the land along with other weedicides to remove weeds completely." Which are the other weedicides? Roundup Ready of Monsanto, Isoproturon etc.
Zero tillage is also being promoted in the name of conservation agriculture [I draw your attention to my article: New language, Old crisis http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/mar/dsh-sustag.htm]
I had written that conservation agriculture is about no tillage. It is based on minimal soil disturbance, organic residue retention and crop rotations. It is believed that the shift to zero tillage or minimal tillage will not disturb the soil, and therefore help in conserving natural resources. I've always thought earthworms were nature's tillers, so it's not clear to me exactly what zero tillage would amount to, since the earthworms would go on tilling anyway, unmindful of new agricultural terminology. Bhaskar Save tells us that earthworms turn around 6 tonnes of soil in its short lifespan. Zero tillage sounds unfamiliar in the Indian context!
Zero tillage has brought about its own industry. And that is what primarily interests agricultural scientists. Among the new conservation technologies required are: Laser land levellers, which have thus far been imported, but some of whose parts are now being fabricated locally; Zero till planters, including the second generation 'Happy Seeders' and 'Turbo Seeders;' Rotatory Disc Drills used for intensive soil working; and of course a range of herbicides.
All this equipment has been suitably modified and redesigned. Among the planter prototypes, you now have the multifunctional-multicrop-ferti-seed-zero till/raised bed planters. Don't bother trying to understand its multifunctional operations; there are already 150 fabricators and entrepreneurs breathing down our necks pitching the device. Which makes me wonder why agriculture scientists never think beyond costly equipment and endless chemicals. Why do they have to rely on imported concepts of sustainability, and the technology options linked to those ideas? Why can't they look inwards, search for the wonderful low-external-input technologies that local farmers have perfected over the years?
The answer is that they are actually not working for farmers anymore. Farmers just happen to be incidental, coming in handy to promote the machines, chemicals and the hybrid/GM seeds. If only they had listened to farmers, spent more time understanding and then improving sustainable farming systems, the face of Indian agriculture would have been ever-smiling. Farmers have all the answers, and they in fact it is they who need to show us the way towards sustainable agriculture, wherein the natural resource base remains protected and preserved.
To those who think 'Zero tillage' helps in carbon sequestration, here is my response http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/2010/03/does-zero-tillage-help-in-carbon.html
Over 200,000 Narmada Dam oustees still to be rehabilitated; a crime that goes unpunished for 25 years.
For 25 years now, they have struggled to get justice. In a peaceful and democratic manner, over 200,000 people displaced from the rising waters of the Narmada dams, have waited endlessly for a rehabilitation package, which is their legitimate right. Justice has been denied to them.
Yesterday, July 24, about 200 displaced people were present in the Gandhi Bhawan, in the heart of Bhopal city, to listen to the conclusions and recommendations of the three-member Independent People's Tribunal on displacements in the Narmada valley. Chaired by Justice (Retd.) A P Shah, former chief justice of the Delhi and Madras High Courts, I had the privilege and honour of being part of the panel. We had travelled through some of the affected areas in the Narmada valley in the first week of the month, and then spent some days putting it all together in the form of this report.
Twenty five years after the work for a series of dams on the mighty Narmada began, the displaced people, a majority of them being adivasis, have been treated worse than cattle by successive governments. Looking at their plight, and their lost years, and knowing that they will continue to be deprived of justice, I wonder why have these people not picked up arms? At a time when the UPA government is asking the naxalites in neighbouring Chhatisgarh State to give up arms and come to the negotiating table, I fail to understand why the government is not talking to those who never picked up the gun?
Narmada valley is not far away from Bhopal.
I bow my head before these poor and hapless for teaching us the true meaning of ahimsa. And yet, the nation has failed them. Every political party is responsible for this crime, a crime against humanity. Every bureaucrat who has been posted with the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA), Narmada Control Authority (NCA)and the Grievance Redressal Authority (GRA) is guilty. They need to be simply hauled up and put in jail. Ministry for Environment & Forests, and Ministry for Water Resources and Planning Commission have been a willing partner to the crime.
I am saddened by what I saw, by what I heard. I can never forget the pain in the eyes of the women whom I met, the tears all dried up in the long drawn struggle for the past quarter of a century. We as a nation are responsible for inflicting these displaced people with so much of scorn and indifference that deep down in their hearts they know we (the fortunate) are not the people they fought to be independent for.
And yet they have not given up on hope.
Let me just read out a couple of paras from the report.
1. It is clearly established that the Governments of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat have violated the rights to life, livelihood and rehabilitation of thousands of oustees of the Sardar Sarovar Project, guaranteed by the Constitution and re-affirmed by numerous international conventions ratified by India by causing illegal and unjustifiable displacement of adivasis, and other farmers.
2. We wish to state at the very outset that our Tribunal was shocked to note as to how the NCA and the NVDA have stated that there are '0 families' who are to be rehabilitated, when in fact, in every village, hundreds of people not only welcomed us, but demonstrated to us the full community life, with the houses in various mohullas, schools, panchayat, bhawans, temples, masjids, agricultural fields, trees etc and narrated not just their individual complaints but the overall situation and problems with adequate analysis.
3. The Supreme Court in its judgement of Mar 15, 2005, whereby it upheld the Narmada Award 1979 and reiterated that land based rehabilitation of project affected persons (PAF) along with provisions of house sites with requisite amenities must be completed one year before submergence. The judgement admitted the entitlements of minimum of 2 hectares of cultivable, irrigable and suitable agricultural land to all major sons and unmarried daughters of landholder PAFs.
4. As a consequence of the progressive Rehabilitation Policy, as a part of the Narmada Tribunal 1979 and protracted struggle by the people, about 10,500 adivasis families have been given land in lieu of the land submerged or acquired for the project in Maharashtra and Gujarat, but to this date not a single family has received acceptable agricultural land in Madhya Pradesh.
5. Madhya Pradesh government has expressed its inability to provide 'land for land' saying it has no surplus land for rehabilitation, and nor can it buy land for the oustees since the land prices have gone up in the recent past. But it expects the oustees to purchase suitable land with the compensation package being provided under 'Special Rehabilitation Grant' that replaces land allocation with a cash package. However, in case of Madhya Pradesh, the Writers and Publishers Limited, Indore, is nationally the 7th largest multi product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in terms of area, slated to come up on 4,050 hectares of land and has already received the "in principle" approval. The total land that this one single SEZ occupies is approximately the total land that would be required to rehabilitate most of the SSP oustees.
6. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan while addressing the Pravasi Bhartiya Sammelan in New Delhi, Jan 2010, had invited the NRIs with open arms to set up industrial units."Madhya Pradesh has no law and order problem, land is available in plenty, and clearances for setting up industrial units can achieved very fast."
So you can see. No limitation of land for industries and SEZ, but no intention of providing land to the oustees, even going to the extent of defying the Supreme Court orders. As an oustee asked us at the Public Hearing at Badwani on June 3: "Does the Supreme Court apply its contempt laws on the State governments also? Or is it only meant for lesser mortals like us?"
Indian People's Tribunal releases report on Narmada Projects
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article484041.ece
By Mahim Pratap Singh
The Hindu, June 25
The Indian People's Tribunal (IPT) released its report on issues of massive displacement, rehabilitation, environmental compliance and overall cost-benefits of the big dam projects like, Sardar Sarovar, Indira Sagar, Omkareshwar and Jobat, here on Thursday.
The report was released by A.P. Shah, the former Chief Justice of Delhi and Madras High Courts, and agricultural analyst, Devinder Sharma, in the presence of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader, Medha Patkar and other activists in Bhopal.
It was brought out following the public hearings conducted during a two-day visit to the affected areas of the Sardar Sarovar Project by Justice Shah, Devinder Sharma and Prof. Jaya Sagade, Vice Principal Indian Law Society, Pune.
Both Justice Shah and Mr. Sharma expressed shock and concern over the magnitude of “planned displacement and unplanned developmentin the valley”, including sustained non-compliance of environmental guidelines and violation of law.
The report observed that since there had been “serious non-compliance on the pari-passu implementation of rehabilitation and environmental measures, we have appealed to the Prime Minister to constitute a High Level Committee of Ministers, officials, experts and representatives of the people's movements to undertake a comprehensive review of all the projects, and take a decision not to further fund or carry forward the project-work until this process of review is complete”.
The Tribunal also noted the “grave consequences” of the badly plannedcanals, running though the agricultural fields in Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar.
Responding to the serious allegations of legal and human rights violations in the Jobat-dam area ,the Tribunal re-asserted the right to land-based rehabilitation of all those displaced, which is already guaranteed in the State Rehabilitation Policy of Madhya Pradesh and in the clearances granted to the projects by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
Welcoming the findings and recommendations by the Tribunal, Medha Patkar stated that the Report affirmed the seriousness of the issues that people have been continuously raising for all these years, with little response and concrete action from authorities, both at the Central and State.
The report recommended that the concerned state governments and the Centre purchase private land for rehabilitation . A comprehensive survey of all affected families must be undertaken in consultation with the Gram Sabha to ensure compliance with the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, and regulatory bodies and ministries like the MoEF , Narmada Control Authority and Grievance Redressal Authority must act strongly to ensure compliance with law and norms of the Projects, the tribunal said.
Yesterday, July 24, about 200 displaced people were present in the Gandhi Bhawan, in the heart of Bhopal city, to listen to the conclusions and recommendations of the three-member Independent People's Tribunal on displacements in the Narmada valley. Chaired by Justice (Retd.) A P Shah, former chief justice of the Delhi and Madras High Courts, I had the privilege and honour of being part of the panel. We had travelled through some of the affected areas in the Narmada valley in the first week of the month, and then spent some days putting it all together in the form of this report.
Twenty five years after the work for a series of dams on the mighty Narmada began, the displaced people, a majority of them being adivasis, have been treated worse than cattle by successive governments. Looking at their plight, and their lost years, and knowing that they will continue to be deprived of justice, I wonder why have these people not picked up arms? At a time when the UPA government is asking the naxalites in neighbouring Chhatisgarh State to give up arms and come to the negotiating table, I fail to understand why the government is not talking to those who never picked up the gun?
Narmada valley is not far away from Bhopal.
I bow my head before these poor and hapless for teaching us the true meaning of ahimsa. And yet, the nation has failed them. Every political party is responsible for this crime, a crime against humanity. Every bureaucrat who has been posted with the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA), Narmada Control Authority (NCA)and the Grievance Redressal Authority (GRA) is guilty. They need to be simply hauled up and put in jail. Ministry for Environment & Forests, and Ministry for Water Resources and Planning Commission have been a willing partner to the crime.
I am saddened by what I saw, by what I heard. I can never forget the pain in the eyes of the women whom I met, the tears all dried up in the long drawn struggle for the past quarter of a century. We as a nation are responsible for inflicting these displaced people with so much of scorn and indifference that deep down in their hearts they know we (the fortunate) are not the people they fought to be independent for.
And yet they have not given up on hope.
Let me just read out a couple of paras from the report.
1. It is clearly established that the Governments of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat have violated the rights to life, livelihood and rehabilitation of thousands of oustees of the Sardar Sarovar Project, guaranteed by the Constitution and re-affirmed by numerous international conventions ratified by India by causing illegal and unjustifiable displacement of adivasis, and other farmers.
2. We wish to state at the very outset that our Tribunal was shocked to note as to how the NCA and the NVDA have stated that there are '0 families' who are to be rehabilitated, when in fact, in every village, hundreds of people not only welcomed us, but demonstrated to us the full community life, with the houses in various mohullas, schools, panchayat, bhawans, temples, masjids, agricultural fields, trees etc and narrated not just their individual complaints but the overall situation and problems with adequate analysis.
3. The Supreme Court in its judgement of Mar 15, 2005, whereby it upheld the Narmada Award 1979 and reiterated that land based rehabilitation of project affected persons (PAF) along with provisions of house sites with requisite amenities must be completed one year before submergence. The judgement admitted the entitlements of minimum of 2 hectares of cultivable, irrigable and suitable agricultural land to all major sons and unmarried daughters of landholder PAFs.
4. As a consequence of the progressive Rehabilitation Policy, as a part of the Narmada Tribunal 1979 and protracted struggle by the people, about 10,500 adivasis families have been given land in lieu of the land submerged or acquired for the project in Maharashtra and Gujarat, but to this date not a single family has received acceptable agricultural land in Madhya Pradesh.
5. Madhya Pradesh government has expressed its inability to provide 'land for land' saying it has no surplus land for rehabilitation, and nor can it buy land for the oustees since the land prices have gone up in the recent past. But it expects the oustees to purchase suitable land with the compensation package being provided under 'Special Rehabilitation Grant' that replaces land allocation with a cash package. However, in case of Madhya Pradesh, the Writers and Publishers Limited, Indore, is nationally the 7th largest multi product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in terms of area, slated to come up on 4,050 hectares of land and has already received the "in principle" approval. The total land that this one single SEZ occupies is approximately the total land that would be required to rehabilitate most of the SSP oustees.
6. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan while addressing the Pravasi Bhartiya Sammelan in New Delhi, Jan 2010, had invited the NRIs with open arms to set up industrial units."Madhya Pradesh has no law and order problem, land is available in plenty, and clearances for setting up industrial units can achieved very fast."
So you can see. No limitation of land for industries and SEZ, but no intention of providing land to the oustees, even going to the extent of defying the Supreme Court orders. As an oustee asked us at the Public Hearing at Badwani on June 3: "Does the Supreme Court apply its contempt laws on the State governments also? Or is it only meant for lesser mortals like us?"
Indian People's Tribunal releases report on Narmada Projects
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article484041.ece
By Mahim Pratap Singh
The Hindu, June 25
The Indian People's Tribunal (IPT) released its report on issues of massive displacement, rehabilitation, environmental compliance and overall cost-benefits of the big dam projects like, Sardar Sarovar, Indira Sagar, Omkareshwar and Jobat, here on Thursday.
The report was released by A.P. Shah, the former Chief Justice of Delhi and Madras High Courts, and agricultural analyst, Devinder Sharma, in the presence of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader, Medha Patkar and other activists in Bhopal.
It was brought out following the public hearings conducted during a two-day visit to the affected areas of the Sardar Sarovar Project by Justice Shah, Devinder Sharma and Prof. Jaya Sagade, Vice Principal Indian Law Society, Pune.
Both Justice Shah and Mr. Sharma expressed shock and concern over the magnitude of “planned displacement and unplanned developmentin the valley”, including sustained non-compliance of environmental guidelines and violation of law.
The report observed that since there had been “serious non-compliance on the pari-passu implementation of rehabilitation and environmental measures, we have appealed to the Prime Minister to constitute a High Level Committee of Ministers, officials, experts and representatives of the people's movements to undertake a comprehensive review of all the projects, and take a decision not to further fund or carry forward the project-work until this process of review is complete”.
The Tribunal also noted the “grave consequences” of the badly plannedcanals, running though the agricultural fields in Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar.
Responding to the serious allegations of legal and human rights violations in the Jobat-dam area ,the Tribunal re-asserted the right to land-based rehabilitation of all those displaced, which is already guaranteed in the State Rehabilitation Policy of Madhya Pradesh and in the clearances granted to the projects by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
Welcoming the findings and recommendations by the Tribunal, Medha Patkar stated that the Report affirmed the seriousness of the issues that people have been continuously raising for all these years, with little response and concrete action from authorities, both at the Central and State.
The report recommended that the concerned state governments and the Centre purchase private land for rehabilitation . A comprehensive survey of all affected families must be undertaken in consultation with the Gram Sabha to ensure compliance with the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, and regulatory bodies and ministries like the MoEF , Narmada Control Authority and Grievance Redressal Authority must act strongly to ensure compliance with law and norms of the Projects, the tribunal said.
Stock Markets will lead to the extinction of humans; the rich will escape to the moon
An Australian scientist who helped in eradicating smallpox has sounded a death warning. Frank Fenner, emeritus professor of microbiology at the Australian National University, has claimed that human race will be unable to survive population explosion and unbridled consumption. "Humans will become extinct, perhaps within 100 years, Fenner is quoted as saying. "A lot of other animals will, too."
Fenner's chilling prediction should not be taken as yet another sensational news. I think any sensible leader, and I am not talking of only political leadership, should be able to get the message straight and loud. If you remember, Mahatma Gandhi had said that the Earth has enough for man's need, but not greed. Prince Charles had more recently warned of 'monumental problems' if the world's population continues to rise at such a rapid pace. Probably what the Prince did not mention was the greed of the growing population through increased consumption will create the grave crisis.
Unbridled consumption is the foundations for the 'growth economics' that has become the Bible of the modern neoliberal economics. In reality, growth economics is nothing but violent economics. It unleashes violence against natural resources, against the climate, against the nature, and also against fellow human beings. It shifts natural, physical as well as financial resources from the hands of the poor into the pockets of the rich and elite. We have been often told that 20 per cent of the world's population of haves controls and uses the resources of the 80 per cent of the have not. Globalisation further strengthens that monopoly control.
In fact, globalisation has simply brought together all the haves from each country. In simple terms, each country has a North and a South, the North depicting the percentage of the bold and beautiful population. Globalisation has brought the North together. They have joined hands to usurp the world's resources, to snatch whatever lies in the hands of the South. Globalisation has actually brought the rich and the crooked together.
Blame it on the burgeoning population, but it is the 20 per cent elite that is destroying the world's resources. In the quest for more wealth they have succeeded in very cleverly changing the rules of the game. They began by first co-opting the economists, and then spread their wings to include the media. The economists laid out the ground rules. They began by designing GDP as an indicator of growth. They crafted it so deftly that we accepted an indicator of personal wealth to be a pointer to national development. They made everything, including global climate, look like a commodity to be sold and exploited.
I am reminded of what the milkman of India, Dr Verghese Kurian, had once said. One species that should disappear from the face of the Earth, and the Earth will be a wonderful place to live in, are the economists.
I am in complete agreement.
After the world became convinced about the virtues of GDP, the mainline economists and the consultancy firms worked out the stock market. I think there is no other innovation (if you don't like to use the word invention) in recent times that has not only influenced but hastened the process of unbridled consumption than the emergence of the Wall Street. In fact, the consultancy firms may refuse to accept it now, and for obvious reasons, but Stock Market will lead the world towards the extinction of human race that Fenner has warned us.
I am amazed at the way the Stock Markets work. These markets have commodified everything. Much of the world's environmental ills are a direct fallout of the Stock Market. Stock Markets will squeeze every drop of water (or other natural resources) out of the planet. There is a price for everything, including the air you breathe. In the days to come you will see Wall Street beginning to trade in synthetic life. Craig Ventor is already pitching for it. I will not be surprised if the human genes too are traded sooner than I expect.
Stock market is certainly not sustainable. The economic meltdown (economist refused to call it economic collapse) that the world witnessed in 2008-09 was the outcome of a systemic failure in the Stock Markets. But the lure of money was so strong, that even the mightiest of the governments refused to let the faulty system go. In a globalised world, the economic bailout package became a necessary evil. As someone said, it amounted to privatising the profits, and socialising the costs. Everyone willingly participated. With the media being a beneficiary of this corrupt system, no dissenting voice could be heard.
If the tax-payers had refused to bailout the collapse of the markets, the world would have taken the first step towards making a correction for the better of the humanity. It didn't happen.
Such an unbridled consumption will be the beginning of the end of the world. In fact, the process if already on. Only the economists refuse to see it, and since the economists have been paid to be quiet, the media too refuses to spot the evil. Stock Markets have already caught the fancy of the media, and they are projecting it as an indicator of economic growth. And as I said earlier, growth economics is nothing but violent economics. While the economic benefits would be reaped by the rich and the crooked, you and me will have to live with the violence it unleashes. I am not sure how many of us will survive this violence.
Fenner is therefore right when he says that humans will probably become extinct within 100 years. Humans will certainly disappear from the face of the Earth, I don't doubt it. But by the time the Stock Markets succeed in plundering the Earth's resources making it absolutely inhospitable for the man to survive, the rich and the elite would have escaped to the moon.
Technological developments will by then make it possible for the humans to survive on the moon.
Fenner's chilling prediction should not be taken as yet another sensational news. I think any sensible leader, and I am not talking of only political leadership, should be able to get the message straight and loud. If you remember, Mahatma Gandhi had said that the Earth has enough for man's need, but not greed. Prince Charles had more recently warned of 'monumental problems' if the world's population continues to rise at such a rapid pace. Probably what the Prince did not mention was the greed of the growing population through increased consumption will create the grave crisis.
Unbridled consumption is the foundations for the 'growth economics' that has become the Bible of the modern neoliberal economics. In reality, growth economics is nothing but violent economics. It unleashes violence against natural resources, against the climate, against the nature, and also against fellow human beings. It shifts natural, physical as well as financial resources from the hands of the poor into the pockets of the rich and elite. We have been often told that 20 per cent of the world's population of haves controls and uses the resources of the 80 per cent of the have not. Globalisation further strengthens that monopoly control.
In fact, globalisation has simply brought together all the haves from each country. In simple terms, each country has a North and a South, the North depicting the percentage of the bold and beautiful population. Globalisation has brought the North together. They have joined hands to usurp the world's resources, to snatch whatever lies in the hands of the South. Globalisation has actually brought the rich and the crooked together.
Blame it on the burgeoning population, but it is the 20 per cent elite that is destroying the world's resources. In the quest for more wealth they have succeeded in very cleverly changing the rules of the game. They began by first co-opting the economists, and then spread their wings to include the media. The economists laid out the ground rules. They began by designing GDP as an indicator of growth. They crafted it so deftly that we accepted an indicator of personal wealth to be a pointer to national development. They made everything, including global climate, look like a commodity to be sold and exploited.
I am reminded of what the milkman of India, Dr Verghese Kurian, had once said. One species that should disappear from the face of the Earth, and the Earth will be a wonderful place to live in, are the economists.
I am in complete agreement.
After the world became convinced about the virtues of GDP, the mainline economists and the consultancy firms worked out the stock market. I think there is no other innovation (if you don't like to use the word invention) in recent times that has not only influenced but hastened the process of unbridled consumption than the emergence of the Wall Street. In fact, the consultancy firms may refuse to accept it now, and for obvious reasons, but Stock Market will lead the world towards the extinction of human race that Fenner has warned us.
I am amazed at the way the Stock Markets work. These markets have commodified everything. Much of the world's environmental ills are a direct fallout of the Stock Market. Stock Markets will squeeze every drop of water (or other natural resources) out of the planet. There is a price for everything, including the air you breathe. In the days to come you will see Wall Street beginning to trade in synthetic life. Craig Ventor is already pitching for it. I will not be surprised if the human genes too are traded sooner than I expect.
Stock market is certainly not sustainable. The economic meltdown (economist refused to call it economic collapse) that the world witnessed in 2008-09 was the outcome of a systemic failure in the Stock Markets. But the lure of money was so strong, that even the mightiest of the governments refused to let the faulty system go. In a globalised world, the economic bailout package became a necessary evil. As someone said, it amounted to privatising the profits, and socialising the costs. Everyone willingly participated. With the media being a beneficiary of this corrupt system, no dissenting voice could be heard.
If the tax-payers had refused to bailout the collapse of the markets, the world would have taken the first step towards making a correction for the better of the humanity. It didn't happen.
Such an unbridled consumption will be the beginning of the end of the world. In fact, the process if already on. Only the economists refuse to see it, and since the economists have been paid to be quiet, the media too refuses to spot the evil. Stock Markets have already caught the fancy of the media, and they are projecting it as an indicator of economic growth. And as I said earlier, growth economics is nothing but violent economics. While the economic benefits would be reaped by the rich and the crooked, you and me will have to live with the violence it unleashes. I am not sure how many of us will survive this violence.
Fenner is therefore right when he says that humans will probably become extinct within 100 years. Humans will certainly disappear from the face of the Earth, I don't doubt it. But by the time the Stock Markets succeed in plundering the Earth's resources making it absolutely inhospitable for the man to survive, the rich and the elite would have escaped to the moon.
Technological developments will by then make it possible for the humans to survive on the moon.
दाल में फिर काला
देविंदर शर्मा
हर बार जब आप दाल पकाना चाहते हैं तो आपको दो बार सोचना पड़ता होगा। एक समय था जब दाल-रोटी आम आदमी का भोजन था। खाद्य पदार्थो की आसमान छूती कीमतों के बाद अब गरीब लोगों की प्लेट से दाल भी गायब हो गई है। 40 साल से अधिक समय से दाल का उत्पादन स्थिर बना हुआ है। इस दौरान दाल का उत्पादन 140 से 160 लाख टन प्रति वर्ष रहा है। मांग और आपूर्ति के अंतर को पाटने के लिए भारत को म्यांमार, कनाडा और आस्ट्रेलिया से 30-40 लाख टन दाल का आयात करना पड़ता है। आप को हैरानी हो रही होगी कि भारत हर साल 30-40 लाख टन दाल का उत्पादन क्यों नहीं बढ़ा सकता। मुख्यमंत्रियों के कार्यकारी समूह ने सुझाया है कि घरेलू मांग की पूर्ति के लिए भारतीय कंपनियों को विदेश में भूमि खरीदने के लिए प्रोत्साहित किया जाना चाहिए, ताकि वहां वे दाल का उत्पादन कर सकें। इस साल अप्रैल में गठित कार्यकारी समूह की अध्यक्षता हरियाणा के मुख्यमंत्री भूपेंद्र सिंह हुड्डा कर रहे हैं, जबकि इसमें पंजाब, बिहार और पश्चिम बंगाल के मुख्यमंत्री शामिल हैं।
कार्यकारी समूह के मसौदे के अनुसार, 'हमें कम से कम 20 लाख टन दलहन और 50 लाख टन तिलहन के लिए विदेश में जमीन खरीदने के विकल्पों पर गंभीरता से विचार करना चाहिए।' मेरे ख्याल से इस अनुशंसा से अधिक मूर्खतापूर्ण कुछ हो ही नहीं सकता। न ही इस सुझाव में कुछ नयापन है। कई साल पहले तत्कालीन कृषि मंत्री बलराम जाखड़ ने भी इसी प्रकार का सुझाव दिया था, जब उन्होंने भारतीय कंपनियों को अफ्रीका में दालों की खेती के लिए कांटेक्ट फार्मिंग करने को कहा था। इस प्रकार के तमाम प्रलोभक विचार उस समय उभर रहे हैं, जब सरकारी नीतियों से समझदारी गायब हो रही है। विदेश में दालों के खेती कर उसे जहाज द्वारा भारत लाने का विचार भी ऐसा ही है। ऐसे समय में जब भारत में किसान भयावह हालात से गुजर रहे हैं, जब वैकल्पिक व्यवस्था होने पर 40 फीसदी से अधिक किसान खेती को तिलांजलि देने को तैयार हैं, तो दालों का घरेलू उत्पादन बढ़ाना ही खेती को लाभदायक बनाने का एकमात्र हल है। मुख्यमंत्रियों के कार्यकारी समूह की अनुशंसाएं न केवल मूर्खतापूर्ण हैं, बल्कि घातक भी हैं। मतलब यह है कि कृषि पदार्थो का उत्पादन बढ़ाने के लिए देश अपने किसानों पर निर्भरता धीरे-धीरे घटा लेगा। ठीक इसी के लिए कृषि-व्यापार क्षेत्र की कंपनियां पुरजोर प्रयास कर रही हैं।
सर्वप्रथम, हमें इस पर विचार करना चाहिए कि भारत अधिक दाल का उत्पादन क्यों नहीं कर पा रहा है? आखिरकार, अतिरिक्त 30-40 लाख टन दालों का उत्पादन कोई बड़ी समस्या नहीं है। कुछ दिन पहले ही प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह की अध्यक्षता में केबिनेट कमिटी ऑन इकॉनॉमिक अफेयर्स ने खरीफ फसलों के न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य में 30 फीसदी की बढ़ोतरी की घोषणा की है। घोषणा का उद्देश्य दालों का उत्पादन बढ़ाना है। इसी के साथ सरकार ने सरकारी खरीद में दाल बेचने वाले किसानों को पांच सौ रुपये प्रति क्विंटल अतिरिक्त मूल्य देने का फैसला भी किया है। दूसरे शब्दों में, पांच सौ रुपये प्रति क्विंटल उन किसानों का बोनस है, जो दाल का उत्पादन कर इसे सरकार को बेचेंगे। अतिरिक्त भुगतान से खुदरा कीमतें नहीं बढ़ेंगी क्योंकि यह खर्च सरकार की तरफ से होगा। इससे सरकार पर एक हजार से दो हजार करोड़ रुपये का भार पड़ेगा।
किसानों को सम्मानीय मूल्य देने से सरकार की मंशा साफ हो जाती है कि यह किसानों को दालों की खेती के लिए प्रोत्साहित कर इसकी पैदावार बढ़ाना चाहती है। किंतु सरकार जिस चीज का अनुमान नहीं लगा पा रही है, वह यह कि न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य बढ़ाना तो दालों की पैदावार में वृद्धि का मात्र एक उपाय है। हमें यह समझना चाहिए कि मूल्य बढ़ने से ही कोई जादू नहीं होने जा रहा है। अगर अधिक मूल्य से ही पैदावार में वृद्धि संभव होती, तो यह बहुत पहले हो चुका होता। अधिक मूल्य के साथ-साथ ऐसा वातावरण भी बनाना होगा, ताकि किसान दलहन और तिलहन की खेती में अधिक निवेश कर सकें। और इस क्षेत्र में भारत में किसानों के लिए कुछ नहीं किया गया है। इसे स्पष्ट शब्दों में कहें तो भारत में दलहन और तिलहन की पैदावार बढ़ाने के लिए नई प्रौद्योगिकी लाने की आवश्यकता नहीं है। कानपुर स्थित नेशनल रिसर्च इंस्टीट्यूट फॉर पल्सेज और अन्य अनुसंधान केंद्र उन्नत दालों की 400 से अधिक किस्में विकसित कर चुके हैं। अब समस्या यह है कि इस बात पर ध्यान नहीं दिया गया कि गेहूं और चावल की पैदावार बढ़ने का कारण उन्नत किस्मों का विकास नहीं है, बल्कि नीतिकारों ने इन दो महत्वपूर्ण फसलों को बढ़ावा दिया है। अधिक उपज से उत्पादन बढ़ने की उम्मीद रहती है। किंतु जैसे ही फसल आती है, इनकी कीमतें गिर जाती हैं।
न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य के माध्यम से सरकार किसानों को एक सुनिश्चित न्यूनतम कीमत का आश्वासन देती है। निर्धारित मूल्य निश्चित तौर पर किसानों के लिए फायदेमंद है, अन्यथा फसल के समय बाजार में व्यापारी कीमतें गिराकर किसानों को नुकसान पहुंचा सकते हैं। साथ ही, सरकार ने मंडियों के माध्यम से सरकारी खरीद का तंत्र भी विकसित किया। निजी व्यापारियों द्वारा फसल न खरीदे जाने पर इसे भारतीय खाद्य निगम और ऐसी ही अन्य सरकारी एजेंसियों द्वारा खरीद लिया जाता है।
इसका मतलब है कि किसानों को सुनिश्चित मूल्य और सुनिश्चित बाजार मिल जाता है। वे जानते हैं कि फसल उगाने के लिए वे जो मेहनत-मशक्कत कर रहे हैं वह बेकार नहीं जाएगी। और मुख्य रूप से इसके कारण ही चार प्रमुख फसलों, गेहूं, चावल, गन्ना और कपास की पैदावार बढ़ी है। केवल इन चार फसलों पर ही बाजार आश्वस्त है, यह चाहे भारतीय खाद्य निगम के कारण हो, या कॉटन कॉर्पोरेशन ऑफ इंडिया अथवा गन्ना मिलों के कारण। मुख्यत: इसी कारण दालों का उत्पादन नहीं बढ़ पाया है। यद्यपि सरकार न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य तो घोषित कर रही है, किंतु पैदावार की सरकारी खरीद का कोई तंत्र विकसित नहीं किया गया है। सुनिश्चित खरीद न होने के कारण किसानों को बाजार में सस्ते दामों में उपज बेचनी पड़ती है। इसलिए किसानों का दालों की खेती से रुझान कम हो रहा है।
भारतीय कंपनियों को विदेश में खेती करने के लिए प्रोत्साहित करने के बजाय जरूरत इस बात की है कि देश में ऐसे क्षेत्रों को चिह्निंत किया जाए, जहां दलहन की खेती को प्रोत्साहन देने की आवश्यकता है। और इसके बाद मंडियों का जाल बिछाया जाए। न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य में बढ़ोतरी के साथ-साथ सरकार को यह भी सुनिश्चित करना चाहिए कि दलहन की पूरी उपज की सरकारी खरीद की जाएगी। बस सुनिश्चित बाजार उपलब्ध कराने भर की देर है, देश में दालों की कमी नहीं रहेगी। इससे देश में सिंचाई के अल्प साधन वाले इलाकों के किसानों को भी लाभ होगा। दालों की पैदावार के लिए बहुत उपजाऊ जमीन और अधिक पानी की आवश्यकता नहीं पड़ती। साथ ही यह मिट्टी में नाइट्रोजन का स्तर भी बढ़ाती हैं। दालों की खेती को बढ़ावा देने से देश टिकाऊ खेती की दिशा में बढ़ेगा और किसान भी गरीबी के फंदे से निकल पाएंगे। हमें अपने किसानों की तरफ सहायता का हाथ बढ़ाना चाहिए, न कि विदेशी किसानों की ओर।
[देविंदर शर्मा: लेखक कृषि मामलों के विशेषज्ञ हैं]
http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/news/opinion/general/6_3_6496285.html
हर बार जब आप दाल पकाना चाहते हैं तो आपको दो बार सोचना पड़ता होगा। एक समय था जब दाल-रोटी आम आदमी का भोजन था। खाद्य पदार्थो की आसमान छूती कीमतों के बाद अब गरीब लोगों की प्लेट से दाल भी गायब हो गई है। 40 साल से अधिक समय से दाल का उत्पादन स्थिर बना हुआ है। इस दौरान दाल का उत्पादन 140 से 160 लाख टन प्रति वर्ष रहा है। मांग और आपूर्ति के अंतर को पाटने के लिए भारत को म्यांमार, कनाडा और आस्ट्रेलिया से 30-40 लाख टन दाल का आयात करना पड़ता है। आप को हैरानी हो रही होगी कि भारत हर साल 30-40 लाख टन दाल का उत्पादन क्यों नहीं बढ़ा सकता। मुख्यमंत्रियों के कार्यकारी समूह ने सुझाया है कि घरेलू मांग की पूर्ति के लिए भारतीय कंपनियों को विदेश में भूमि खरीदने के लिए प्रोत्साहित किया जाना चाहिए, ताकि वहां वे दाल का उत्पादन कर सकें। इस साल अप्रैल में गठित कार्यकारी समूह की अध्यक्षता हरियाणा के मुख्यमंत्री भूपेंद्र सिंह हुड्डा कर रहे हैं, जबकि इसमें पंजाब, बिहार और पश्चिम बंगाल के मुख्यमंत्री शामिल हैं।
कार्यकारी समूह के मसौदे के अनुसार, 'हमें कम से कम 20 लाख टन दलहन और 50 लाख टन तिलहन के लिए विदेश में जमीन खरीदने के विकल्पों पर गंभीरता से विचार करना चाहिए।' मेरे ख्याल से इस अनुशंसा से अधिक मूर्खतापूर्ण कुछ हो ही नहीं सकता। न ही इस सुझाव में कुछ नयापन है। कई साल पहले तत्कालीन कृषि मंत्री बलराम जाखड़ ने भी इसी प्रकार का सुझाव दिया था, जब उन्होंने भारतीय कंपनियों को अफ्रीका में दालों की खेती के लिए कांटेक्ट फार्मिंग करने को कहा था। इस प्रकार के तमाम प्रलोभक विचार उस समय उभर रहे हैं, जब सरकारी नीतियों से समझदारी गायब हो रही है। विदेश में दालों के खेती कर उसे जहाज द्वारा भारत लाने का विचार भी ऐसा ही है। ऐसे समय में जब भारत में किसान भयावह हालात से गुजर रहे हैं, जब वैकल्पिक व्यवस्था होने पर 40 फीसदी से अधिक किसान खेती को तिलांजलि देने को तैयार हैं, तो दालों का घरेलू उत्पादन बढ़ाना ही खेती को लाभदायक बनाने का एकमात्र हल है। मुख्यमंत्रियों के कार्यकारी समूह की अनुशंसाएं न केवल मूर्खतापूर्ण हैं, बल्कि घातक भी हैं। मतलब यह है कि कृषि पदार्थो का उत्पादन बढ़ाने के लिए देश अपने किसानों पर निर्भरता धीरे-धीरे घटा लेगा। ठीक इसी के लिए कृषि-व्यापार क्षेत्र की कंपनियां पुरजोर प्रयास कर रही हैं।
सर्वप्रथम, हमें इस पर विचार करना चाहिए कि भारत अधिक दाल का उत्पादन क्यों नहीं कर पा रहा है? आखिरकार, अतिरिक्त 30-40 लाख टन दालों का उत्पादन कोई बड़ी समस्या नहीं है। कुछ दिन पहले ही प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह की अध्यक्षता में केबिनेट कमिटी ऑन इकॉनॉमिक अफेयर्स ने खरीफ फसलों के न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य में 30 फीसदी की बढ़ोतरी की घोषणा की है। घोषणा का उद्देश्य दालों का उत्पादन बढ़ाना है। इसी के साथ सरकार ने सरकारी खरीद में दाल बेचने वाले किसानों को पांच सौ रुपये प्रति क्विंटल अतिरिक्त मूल्य देने का फैसला भी किया है। दूसरे शब्दों में, पांच सौ रुपये प्रति क्विंटल उन किसानों का बोनस है, जो दाल का उत्पादन कर इसे सरकार को बेचेंगे। अतिरिक्त भुगतान से खुदरा कीमतें नहीं बढ़ेंगी क्योंकि यह खर्च सरकार की तरफ से होगा। इससे सरकार पर एक हजार से दो हजार करोड़ रुपये का भार पड़ेगा।
किसानों को सम्मानीय मूल्य देने से सरकार की मंशा साफ हो जाती है कि यह किसानों को दालों की खेती के लिए प्रोत्साहित कर इसकी पैदावार बढ़ाना चाहती है। किंतु सरकार जिस चीज का अनुमान नहीं लगा पा रही है, वह यह कि न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य बढ़ाना तो दालों की पैदावार में वृद्धि का मात्र एक उपाय है। हमें यह समझना चाहिए कि मूल्य बढ़ने से ही कोई जादू नहीं होने जा रहा है। अगर अधिक मूल्य से ही पैदावार में वृद्धि संभव होती, तो यह बहुत पहले हो चुका होता। अधिक मूल्य के साथ-साथ ऐसा वातावरण भी बनाना होगा, ताकि किसान दलहन और तिलहन की खेती में अधिक निवेश कर सकें। और इस क्षेत्र में भारत में किसानों के लिए कुछ नहीं किया गया है। इसे स्पष्ट शब्दों में कहें तो भारत में दलहन और तिलहन की पैदावार बढ़ाने के लिए नई प्रौद्योगिकी लाने की आवश्यकता नहीं है। कानपुर स्थित नेशनल रिसर्च इंस्टीट्यूट फॉर पल्सेज और अन्य अनुसंधान केंद्र उन्नत दालों की 400 से अधिक किस्में विकसित कर चुके हैं। अब समस्या यह है कि इस बात पर ध्यान नहीं दिया गया कि गेहूं और चावल की पैदावार बढ़ने का कारण उन्नत किस्मों का विकास नहीं है, बल्कि नीतिकारों ने इन दो महत्वपूर्ण फसलों को बढ़ावा दिया है। अधिक उपज से उत्पादन बढ़ने की उम्मीद रहती है। किंतु जैसे ही फसल आती है, इनकी कीमतें गिर जाती हैं।
न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य के माध्यम से सरकार किसानों को एक सुनिश्चित न्यूनतम कीमत का आश्वासन देती है। निर्धारित मूल्य निश्चित तौर पर किसानों के लिए फायदेमंद है, अन्यथा फसल के समय बाजार में व्यापारी कीमतें गिराकर किसानों को नुकसान पहुंचा सकते हैं। साथ ही, सरकार ने मंडियों के माध्यम से सरकारी खरीद का तंत्र भी विकसित किया। निजी व्यापारियों द्वारा फसल न खरीदे जाने पर इसे भारतीय खाद्य निगम और ऐसी ही अन्य सरकारी एजेंसियों द्वारा खरीद लिया जाता है।
इसका मतलब है कि किसानों को सुनिश्चित मूल्य और सुनिश्चित बाजार मिल जाता है। वे जानते हैं कि फसल उगाने के लिए वे जो मेहनत-मशक्कत कर रहे हैं वह बेकार नहीं जाएगी। और मुख्य रूप से इसके कारण ही चार प्रमुख फसलों, गेहूं, चावल, गन्ना और कपास की पैदावार बढ़ी है। केवल इन चार फसलों पर ही बाजार आश्वस्त है, यह चाहे भारतीय खाद्य निगम के कारण हो, या कॉटन कॉर्पोरेशन ऑफ इंडिया अथवा गन्ना मिलों के कारण। मुख्यत: इसी कारण दालों का उत्पादन नहीं बढ़ पाया है। यद्यपि सरकार न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य तो घोषित कर रही है, किंतु पैदावार की सरकारी खरीद का कोई तंत्र विकसित नहीं किया गया है। सुनिश्चित खरीद न होने के कारण किसानों को बाजार में सस्ते दामों में उपज बेचनी पड़ती है। इसलिए किसानों का दालों की खेती से रुझान कम हो रहा है।
भारतीय कंपनियों को विदेश में खेती करने के लिए प्रोत्साहित करने के बजाय जरूरत इस बात की है कि देश में ऐसे क्षेत्रों को चिह्निंत किया जाए, जहां दलहन की खेती को प्रोत्साहन देने की आवश्यकता है। और इसके बाद मंडियों का जाल बिछाया जाए। न्यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य में बढ़ोतरी के साथ-साथ सरकार को यह भी सुनिश्चित करना चाहिए कि दलहन की पूरी उपज की सरकारी खरीद की जाएगी। बस सुनिश्चित बाजार उपलब्ध कराने भर की देर है, देश में दालों की कमी नहीं रहेगी। इससे देश में सिंचाई के अल्प साधन वाले इलाकों के किसानों को भी लाभ होगा। दालों की पैदावार के लिए बहुत उपजाऊ जमीन और अधिक पानी की आवश्यकता नहीं पड़ती। साथ ही यह मिट्टी में नाइट्रोजन का स्तर भी बढ़ाती हैं। दालों की खेती को बढ़ावा देने से देश टिकाऊ खेती की दिशा में बढ़ेगा और किसान भी गरीबी के फंदे से निकल पाएंगे। हमें अपने किसानों की तरफ सहायता का हाथ बढ़ाना चाहिए, न कि विदेशी किसानों की ओर।
[देविंदर शर्मा: लेखक कृषि मामलों के विशेषज्ञ हैं]
http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/news/opinion/general/6_3_6496285.html
The Hunger Scam: Removing malnutrition with Rs 4 to Rs 6 per day per beneficiary
This is shocking indeed. This is simply scandalous. This should go as India's biggest hunger scam.
In a country where a large number of more than 150 million children below the age of six live in economic and social environment which impedes child's mental and physical development, and where as per UNICEF 47 per cent children under the age of five are stunted, India provides a paltry support, not enough even to fill the stomach of your pet puppy what to talk of meeting its nutrition needs, to malnourished children and nursing mothers.
The Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) was launched in 1975 with the objective to target the most vulnerable groups of population including children below the age of six, pregnant women and nursing mothers, belonging to poorest of the poor families. The objective is to provide a minimum of 300 calories to children below the age of six, 500 calories to adolescent girls, 500 calories to nursing mothers and pregnant mothers, and double the daily supplement to malnourished children.
According to the ICDS website, for supplementary nutrition the financial norms were revised recently. The cost of supplementary nutrition (per day per beneficiary) for different category of beneficiaries vide the Ministry’s letter No. F.No. 4-2/2008-CD.II dated 07.11.2008, are:
1. Children (6-72 months): Rs 4 (up from Rs 2)
2. Severely malnourished children (6-72 months): Rs 6 (up from Rs 2.70)
3. Pregnant women and nursing mothers: Rs 5 (up from Rs 2.30)
If the ICDS can provide and meet the nutritional norms with such meagre allocations, I think it should be rated as the world's best known miracle. What is more shocking is the kind of accolade that has been showered on the programme by all and sundry, including the Planning Commission, World Bank, World Food Programme, CARE, and UNICEF.
Now take a look at the type of supplementary nutrition that is expected from such a paltry allocation. As per the ICSD website:
Children in the age group 6 months to 3 years : For children in this age group, the existing pattern of Take Home Ration (THR) under the ICDS Scheme will continue. However, in addition to the current mixed practice of giving either dry or raw ration (wheat and rice) which is often consumed by the entire family and not the child alone, THR should be given in the form that is palatable to the child instead of the entire family.
Children in the age group 3 to 6 years : For the children in this age group, State/ UTs have been requested to make arrangements to serve Hot Cooked Meal in AWCs and mini-AWCs under the ICDS Scheme. Since the child of this age group is not capable of consuming a meal of 500 calories in one sitting, the States/ UTs are advised to consider serving more than one meal to the children who come to AWCs. Since the process of cooking and serving hot cooked meal takes time, and in most of the cases, the food is served around noon, States/ UTs may provide 500 calories over more than one meal. States/ UTs may arrange to provide a morning snack in the form of milk/ banana/ egg/ seasonal fruits/ micronutrient fortified food etc.
I draw your attention to the last line only. It says: "States/ UTs may arrange to provide a morning snack in the form of milk/ banana/ egg/ seasonal fruits/ micronutrient fortified food etc." Now please tell me if you think this is possible in Rs 6 a day. If it is possible, I would like to know from where the ICDS is sourcing this morning meal. I too would like to buy from the same source.
As far as the budgetary allocations are concerned, the ICDS site says that alongside gradual expansion of the Scheme, there has also been a significant increase in the Budgetary allocation for ICDS Scheme from Rs.10391.75 crore in 10th Five Year Plan to Rs.44,400 crore in XI Plan Period. Now all this is not for supplementary nutrition. There are several other components of the ICDS. But whether we accept it or not, supplementary nutrition remains the most important and the basic foundation to fight malnutrition.
No wonder, India fares much badly than Sub-Saharan Africa in malnutrition. It will continue to do so.
In a country where a large number of more than 150 million children below the age of six live in economic and social environment which impedes child's mental and physical development, and where as per UNICEF 47 per cent children under the age of five are stunted, India provides a paltry support, not enough even to fill the stomach of your pet puppy what to talk of meeting its nutrition needs, to malnourished children and nursing mothers.
The Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) was launched in 1975 with the objective to target the most vulnerable groups of population including children below the age of six, pregnant women and nursing mothers, belonging to poorest of the poor families. The objective is to provide a minimum of 300 calories to children below the age of six, 500 calories to adolescent girls, 500 calories to nursing mothers and pregnant mothers, and double the daily supplement to malnourished children.
According to the ICDS website, for supplementary nutrition the financial norms were revised recently. The cost of supplementary nutrition (per day per beneficiary) for different category of beneficiaries vide the Ministry’s letter No. F.No. 4-2/2008-CD.II dated 07.11.2008, are:
1. Children (6-72 months): Rs 4 (up from Rs 2)
2. Severely malnourished children (6-72 months): Rs 6 (up from Rs 2.70)
3. Pregnant women and nursing mothers: Rs 5 (up from Rs 2.30)
If the ICDS can provide and meet the nutritional norms with such meagre allocations, I think it should be rated as the world's best known miracle. What is more shocking is the kind of accolade that has been showered on the programme by all and sundry, including the Planning Commission, World Bank, World Food Programme, CARE, and UNICEF.
Now take a look at the type of supplementary nutrition that is expected from such a paltry allocation. As per the ICSD website:
Children in the age group 6 months to 3 years : For children in this age group, the existing pattern of Take Home Ration (THR) under the ICDS Scheme will continue. However, in addition to the current mixed practice of giving either dry or raw ration (wheat and rice) which is often consumed by the entire family and not the child alone, THR should be given in the form that is palatable to the child instead of the entire family.
Children in the age group 3 to 6 years : For the children in this age group, State/ UTs have been requested to make arrangements to serve Hot Cooked Meal in AWCs and mini-AWCs under the ICDS Scheme. Since the child of this age group is not capable of consuming a meal of 500 calories in one sitting, the States/ UTs are advised to consider serving more than one meal to the children who come to AWCs. Since the process of cooking and serving hot cooked meal takes time, and in most of the cases, the food is served around noon, States/ UTs may provide 500 calories over more than one meal. States/ UTs may arrange to provide a morning snack in the form of milk/ banana/ egg/ seasonal fruits/ micronutrient fortified food etc.
I draw your attention to the last line only. It says: "States/ UTs may arrange to provide a morning snack in the form of milk/ banana/ egg/ seasonal fruits/ micronutrient fortified food etc." Now please tell me if you think this is possible in Rs 6 a day. If it is possible, I would like to know from where the ICDS is sourcing this morning meal. I too would like to buy from the same source.
As far as the budgetary allocations are concerned, the ICDS site says that alongside gradual expansion of the Scheme, there has also been a significant increase in the Budgetary allocation for ICDS Scheme from Rs.10391.75 crore in 10th Five Year Plan to Rs.44,400 crore in XI Plan Period. Now all this is not for supplementary nutrition. There are several other components of the ICDS. But whether we accept it or not, supplementary nutrition remains the most important and the basic foundation to fight malnutrition.
No wonder, India fares much badly than Sub-Saharan Africa in malnutrition. It will continue to do so.
Spurious hybrid seeds flood the Indian market. No problem, the GDP goes up.
A few weeks back I was travelling in the Nimad region of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Nimad derives its name from the neem tree. As the region's name suggests, neem is the dominant tree in this area. What however strikes you is multiplicity of Bt cotton posters that adorns every wall, standing tree, buses etc. You see them everywhere.
I counted some 20 different brands of Bt cotton seed posters and banners. To name a few: Super Mallika, Atal, Jai Bt, Ankur 3028, Ganesh, Gabbar, Mallika Gold, Superman, Jaadu Bt cotton, and Obama. I wonder how the farmer makes the right kind of choice, of which seed brand to pick up. How many of them end up being duped, your guess is as good as mine.
Hybrid seed is a lucrative market. There was a time when close to 2,000 brands of hybrid seeds of cotton were being sold in Andhra Pradesh. Interestingly, at least one of the parents in most of these hybrids was common. I wonder how could so many different kinds of hybrids (and all with higher productivity) could be developed with one parent being common. In other words, most of these popular brands were nothing but duplicates being sold under different names.
So if there was a brand of hybrid cotton seed named Laxmi someone brought another brand called Super Laxmi. I admire farmer's sixth sense (if any) in selecting the more genuine ones from hundred of brands flooding the market.
The menace of multiple brands of hybrid seeds has now spread to the northern parts of the country. Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab are now faced with this problem. In all these States, hybrid seeds have flooded the market, mostly from Andhra Pradesh. Whether it is vegetable (which in any case is dominated by hybrids, with the UP, Haryana and Punjab governments providing subsidy on its cultivation), cotton or rice, what is being increasingly available in the market are only hybrid seeds.
In UP, a Lucknow datelined report in Dainik Jagran says the four main agricultural universities were provided with Rs 53 crore from the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna to develop locally adaptable hybrid seeds. But none of these universities have undertaken any such research project. So where has the Rs 53-crore (or Rs 530 million) allocated for the purpose disappeared, please don't ask me. The average market price for hybrid seed that is available is Rs 200 per kg. Farmers have little choice but to go by the recommendation of the shop keepers.
Quoting a State government report, the newspaper says that between 2006 and 2009, 40 private seed companies had made available 102 different kinds/brands of hybrid seeds to the agricultural universities for evaluation. Only 14 of these were made available for research in the second year of cultivation (since hybrids lose their hybrid vigour in the 2nd generation). It means that the hybrid seed sector is dominated by fly-by-night operators who make money from one year's sale, and than disappear probably to appear again with a new brand.
Not even one seed sample was drawn and sent for testing in any of the laboratories in UP.
That makes me wonder whether the kind of intense deliberations and engagement that a few of us (and that includes farmer organisations and NGOs) are involved in over the proposed Seed Bill will make any practical difference to the existing market realities? Is the Ministry of Agriculture even aware of the hanky-panky that goes unchecked in the name of improved seeds? And even if they are aware, do they care?
What is therefore urgently needed is a strict penalty clause with heavy penalties (and prison terms) in the proposed Seed Bill. Unless some of the seed manufacturers are hauled up and given exemplary punishment, seed will remain a flourishing business for all kinds of operators.
Well, knowing what the Prime Minister said: "Bhopal's will happen, but the country has to progress," and that sends a message down the line. You should be prepared not to expect any meaningful change. After all, the more the seed packets are sold, the more it adds to the GDP calculations. Who cares for the aam kisan?
I counted some 20 different brands of Bt cotton seed posters and banners. To name a few: Super Mallika, Atal, Jai Bt, Ankur 3028, Ganesh, Gabbar, Mallika Gold, Superman, Jaadu Bt cotton, and Obama. I wonder how the farmer makes the right kind of choice, of which seed brand to pick up. How many of them end up being duped, your guess is as good as mine.
Hybrid seed is a lucrative market. There was a time when close to 2,000 brands of hybrid seeds of cotton were being sold in Andhra Pradesh. Interestingly, at least one of the parents in most of these hybrids was common. I wonder how could so many different kinds of hybrids (and all with higher productivity) could be developed with one parent being common. In other words, most of these popular brands were nothing but duplicates being sold under different names.
So if there was a brand of hybrid cotton seed named Laxmi someone brought another brand called Super Laxmi. I admire farmer's sixth sense (if any) in selecting the more genuine ones from hundred of brands flooding the market.
The menace of multiple brands of hybrid seeds has now spread to the northern parts of the country. Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab are now faced with this problem. In all these States, hybrid seeds have flooded the market, mostly from Andhra Pradesh. Whether it is vegetable (which in any case is dominated by hybrids, with the UP, Haryana and Punjab governments providing subsidy on its cultivation), cotton or rice, what is being increasingly available in the market are only hybrid seeds.
In UP, a Lucknow datelined report in Dainik Jagran says the four main agricultural universities were provided with Rs 53 crore from the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna to develop locally adaptable hybrid seeds. But none of these universities have undertaken any such research project. So where has the Rs 53-crore (or Rs 530 million) allocated for the purpose disappeared, please don't ask me. The average market price for hybrid seed that is available is Rs 200 per kg. Farmers have little choice but to go by the recommendation of the shop keepers.
Quoting a State government report, the newspaper says that between 2006 and 2009, 40 private seed companies had made available 102 different kinds/brands of hybrid seeds to the agricultural universities for evaluation. Only 14 of these were made available for research in the second year of cultivation (since hybrids lose their hybrid vigour in the 2nd generation). It means that the hybrid seed sector is dominated by fly-by-night operators who make money from one year's sale, and than disappear probably to appear again with a new brand.
Not even one seed sample was drawn and sent for testing in any of the laboratories in UP.
That makes me wonder whether the kind of intense deliberations and engagement that a few of us (and that includes farmer organisations and NGOs) are involved in over the proposed Seed Bill will make any practical difference to the existing market realities? Is the Ministry of Agriculture even aware of the hanky-panky that goes unchecked in the name of improved seeds? And even if they are aware, do they care?
What is therefore urgently needed is a strict penalty clause with heavy penalties (and prison terms) in the proposed Seed Bill. Unless some of the seed manufacturers are hauled up and given exemplary punishment, seed will remain a flourishing business for all kinds of operators.
Well, knowing what the Prime Minister said: "Bhopal's will happen, but the country has to progress," and that sends a message down the line. You should be prepared not to expect any meaningful change. After all, the more the seed packets are sold, the more it adds to the GDP calculations. Who cares for the aam kisan?
Obama leads from the front; Manmohan ducks for cover
US President Obama
Yesterday, US President Obama addressed the nation from his Oval office. Bloomberg reports: "As devastation from the worst U.S. oil spill mounts, President Barack Obama vowed that BP Plc will pay for all damage caused by its “recklessness” and that the government would commit to restoring the Gulf Coast."
"We will fight this spill with everything we’ve got,” Obama said. “We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused. And we will do whatever’s necessary to help the Gulf Coast and its people recover from this tragedy.”
Sitting in front of the TV in New Delhi, and watching a programme on whether the US follows double standards, my thoughts wander to President Obama's speech before the nation. I think Americans are so damn lucky. They have a President (not that I agree with his policies, he is taking the country on a downhill path)) who at least at the time of a calamity and a national disaster stands up and leads from the front, and shows that he is accountable to the people. Obama has clearly demonstrated that he is the American President, and will not allow British Petroleum to get away with murder.
Back home, we have Dr Manmohan Singh as our Prime Minister. Ever since the Bhopal gas verdict came, he has been literally hiding. The media, business and industry as well as the intellectuals have thrown a protective ring around him. Unable to face the nation, his party is fielding Jayanti Natarajan and Manish Tiwari to go on the harangue. It is such a pain to see their faces, and probably what the Congress does not realise is that by fielding the two into the public arena they don't need the main Opposition party BJP to do it any more harm. By questioning the 'nationalist credentials' of those accusing late Rajiv Gandhi of being responsible for letting Anderson leave the country, Manish Tiwari has in a way already acknowledged that Rajiv Gandhi was in fact the person who let the culprit escape.
Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh
It requires a courage of conviction to stand up and be counted.
Obama's thunder has made BP cough out $ 20 billion. Manmohan Singh on the other hand will ensure that you and me end up paying for the toxic clean up, and also for adequately compensating the victims. Wait and watch for the report of the GoM headed by a Minister who himself stands indicted. The GoM proposals would be worse than what even Ratan Tata had suggested in order to bail out Dow Chemicals.
When Dow Chemical bought Union Carbide, it set aside $ 2.2 billion to cover potential liabilities arising from Union Carbide's American asbestos production at its plant in West Virginia, but clearly stated that it had nothing to do with the Bhopal plant (Sunday Guardian, June 13, 2010). You can understand why Ratan Tata (his name should also figure in The Hall of Shame) was keen to absolve Dow Chemicals of the responsibility for toxic clean up.
Manmohan Singh could have promised to also go in for a political clean up. He should have sacked by now P Chidambaram, Kamal Nath, and Montek Singh Ahluwalia for being party to the exemption that Dow Chemical wanted. He should have simultaneously launched an investigation into what went wrong, and that includes the faulty lines in the Indian judiciary, and at the same time taken all political parties into confidence to bring corporate accountability. People have the right to know the names of political leaders, bureaucrats, judges, and the business tycoons who betrayed the nation. Even if it includes former President Giani Zail Singh and the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, so be it.
After all, Prime Minister is the head of the government. He can make the nation, and its judiciary, behave. He does not have the option of any excuses. He must deliver or be made to quit.
Obama is the American President, and he knows he is responsible for whatever happens within his country. He doesn't have to worry about British Petroleum. He knows he drives strength from his people. Manmohan Singh on the other hand is worried about the wrong signals his tough position will send to the foreign investors. "'Bhopal's will happen, but the country has to grow," is what he believes in. People therefore must learn to suffer silently.
Obama thinks otherwise. For him every American life counts. The American environment has to be preserved at every cost.
It is not the US which follows double standards. The fact is that India has no standards. Call it a 'systemic failure', the fact remains, as intrepid journalist Rajdeep Sardesai often reminds us: "is hamam main sab nange hain" (everyone is naked in this spa). Indians lack compassion, and are selfish to the core. Everyone, more so at the top, is trying to exploit the lesser children of the god. The more the bold and powerful you are, the more you are willing to slit the throat of others. Corporate India is doing it to the poor tribals. Manmohan Singh is only using State power to make that possible.
What India Inc therefore needs is a danda. I wish Prime Minister Manmohan Singh knew how to be tough, how to use the broom, and how to stand up for his people. This was an opportunity for him to make his mark in history. He missed it, and so did India.
Let us wait for the day when someone much more taller emerges to lead India. We desperately need a Prime Minister who represents India and not India Inc.
--------------------------------
Before you go, I want you to read these two articles:
Let down by mai-baap by Aman Hingorani
The law empowering the Indian government to represent Bhopal's gas victims was unconstitutional. In effect, two guilty parties negotiated with each other.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Let-down-by-mai-baap/H1-Article1-558211.aspx
Games Big Corporations Play by P Sainath
Bhopal marked the horrific beginning of a new era. One that signalled the collapse of restraint on corporate power.
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/06/15/stories/2010061552821200.htm
Punjab -- food bowl of the country -- is fast drying up.
Punjab is in crisis. The food bowl of the country is fast drying up. We have time and again sounded the warning bells in these columns. I don't think even Punjab wants to think of the ecological disaster that is steadily building up.
But does Punjab care? I don't think so. Over the years I have seen Punjab bringing in policies and the so called 'development' measures that actually is acerbating the water crisis. Over the years, the situation at the underground level has only worsened. But who cares? After all, you live for today. So exploit the natural resources as much as you can do it. I guess this is the general tendency.
As this detailed report 'That Sinking Feeling' (Indian Express, June 16, 2010) brings out, the groundwater level is fast depleting. farmers are going deeper and deeper in search of water. To make matters worse, more and more farmers are replacing centrifugal pumps with submersible ones which are digging deep into its water table. The total number of such pumps has reached nearly 4.5 lakh in the state. In the dark zones of the state, the pumps have gone down to a depth of 450 feet.
What's more worrying, says the Punjab Farmers Commission, is that the damage from submersible pumps cannot be undone even by rains. "Rain water can recharge groundwater up to 80-90 feet. So pumps going up to 300-400 feet are drawing from reserves which are being exhausted without any scope for replacement," says the commission's consultant, Dr PS Rangi.
Before you read the Indian Express report below, I draw your attention to a blog post: Who cares for vanishing ground water? http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/2009/08/who-cares-for-vanishing-ground-water.html
That Sinking Feeling
Indiscriminate use of pumps has taken its toll on Punjab's water table, with 103 out of 141 development blocks being declared 'over-exploited' and 12 blocks 'dried out' completely
By Sukhideep Kaur
Chandigarh/June 15
WITH the runaway success of the green revolution in the `70s, Punjab formed an important part of the country's food bowl. Consider the figures: with a mere1.5 per cent of India's total geographical area, the state accounts for 22 per cent of the country's wheat production and 13 per cent of rice and cotton. Nearly 85 per cent of its land is under cultivation.
However, Punjab's contribution to the nation's food security is coming at the cost of its natural resources. The land of bountiful rivers and crops is fast heading towards desertification, warn hydrologists. The water table in as much as 79 per cent of Punjab is depleting fast, with 103 out of 141 blocks declared over-exploited (more than 85 per cent exploitation) by the Central Groundwater Board and as many as 12 blocks labelled absolutely dark, where groundwater has completely dried out. The rate of exploitation in several blocks of its central districts of Jalandhar, Moga and Ludhiana ranges between 200 to 250 per cent with Nihalsinghwala block in Moga district being the worst affected at an exploitation rate of 400 per cent.
The first alarm was sounded in July 2007 by the Union Water Resources Ministry which had asked Punjab to address the impending crisis through a legislation. In August 2009, based on satellite imagery, NASA scientists too warned of a "collapse of agricultural output and severe shortage of potable water" in India's bread basket. Led by hydrologist Matt Rodell, who has been tracking the disappearing groundwater in northern India, particularly in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, using twin satellites of GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Change Experiment), scientists, in their report posted on the NASA website in August last year, had warned that "beneath northern India's irrigated fields of wheat, rice and barley.... the groundwater is fast disappearing."
The state brought in a law -Punjab Preservation of Sub-Soil Water -in 2008 prohibiting farmers from sowing paddy nursery before May 10 and transplanting it before June 10.
However, with the number of tubewells growing from 1.2 lakh in 1970s to 12.32 lakh in 2009 and another 52,889 connections released last year, the groundwater decline has reached 50 to 100 cm per annum in the state with the irrigation deficit of 1.36 mham being met from overdrawing of groundwater. The free power regime is also fuelling indiscriminate exploitation of groundwater. Though the state has started billing farmers this year, it is too little and too late. The farmers will be charged at a heavily discounted rate of 50 bhp per month, one-fifth of the actual cost, and the bills would be collected biannually and reimbursed to them as productivity bonus by the government.
To make matters worse, more and more farmers are replacing centrifugal pumps with submersible ones which are digging deep into its water table. The total number of such pumps has reached nearly 4.5 lakh in the state. In the dark zones of the state, the pumps have gone down to a depth of 450 feet.
The Punjab Directorate of Water Resources which is monitoring all the three zones of the state --Majha, Doaba and Malwa --says 325 out of a total of 551 sites under observation have shown a fall in the water table in the period from June 2008 to June 2009. After every paddy season, the situation gets worse. "Nearly 65 per cent of sites in Doaba have shown a decline, 63 per cent in Malwa and 47 per cent in Majha. Though some sites have shown improvement, it is very minimal," says K S Takshi, Punjab Director of Water Resources. Former Chief Conservator of Soils and Water, Punjab, A K Sondhi attributes this to demand-availability deficit. "Against a demand of 4.40 million hectares metre (mhm) -that is one million hectares of land covered with water one metre deep -the deficit in Punjab is 1.36 mhm.
This deficit is being met by groundwater. In the central part of Punjab, the water table was at 15 feet in 1964.
With the green revolution, it started declining. During 1993 to 2003, the average fall in water table in Punjab was 2 feet per year. Now, out of 70 blocks, water table in 40 blocks has gone down below 50 feet. The worst affected districts are Sangrur and Moga where the water table is below 50 feet in 12 out of 13 and four out of five blocks respectively " he says.
Read the full report at:
http://epaper.indianexpress.com/IE/IEH/2010/06/16/ArticleHtmls/16_06_2010_007_034.shtml?Mode=1
But does Punjab care? I don't think so. Over the years I have seen Punjab bringing in policies and the so called 'development' measures that actually is acerbating the water crisis. Over the years, the situation at the underground level has only worsened. But who cares? After all, you live for today. So exploit the natural resources as much as you can do it. I guess this is the general tendency.
As this detailed report 'That Sinking Feeling' (Indian Express, June 16, 2010) brings out, the groundwater level is fast depleting. farmers are going deeper and deeper in search of water. To make matters worse, more and more farmers are replacing centrifugal pumps with submersible ones which are digging deep into its water table. The total number of such pumps has reached nearly 4.5 lakh in the state. In the dark zones of the state, the pumps have gone down to a depth of 450 feet.
What's more worrying, says the Punjab Farmers Commission, is that the damage from submersible pumps cannot be undone even by rains. "Rain water can recharge groundwater up to 80-90 feet. So pumps going up to 300-400 feet are drawing from reserves which are being exhausted without any scope for replacement," says the commission's consultant, Dr PS Rangi.
Before you read the Indian Express report below, I draw your attention to a blog post: Who cares for vanishing ground water? http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/2009/08/who-cares-for-vanishing-ground-water.html
That Sinking Feeling
Indiscriminate use of pumps has taken its toll on Punjab's water table, with 103 out of 141 development blocks being declared 'over-exploited' and 12 blocks 'dried out' completely
By Sukhideep Kaur
Chandigarh/June 15
WITH the runaway success of the green revolution in the `70s, Punjab formed an important part of the country's food bowl. Consider the figures: with a mere1.5 per cent of India's total geographical area, the state accounts for 22 per cent of the country's wheat production and 13 per cent of rice and cotton. Nearly 85 per cent of its land is under cultivation.
However, Punjab's contribution to the nation's food security is coming at the cost of its natural resources. The land of bountiful rivers and crops is fast heading towards desertification, warn hydrologists. The water table in as much as 79 per cent of Punjab is depleting fast, with 103 out of 141 blocks declared over-exploited (more than 85 per cent exploitation) by the Central Groundwater Board and as many as 12 blocks labelled absolutely dark, where groundwater has completely dried out. The rate of exploitation in several blocks of its central districts of Jalandhar, Moga and Ludhiana ranges between 200 to 250 per cent with Nihalsinghwala block in Moga district being the worst affected at an exploitation rate of 400 per cent.
The first alarm was sounded in July 2007 by the Union Water Resources Ministry which had asked Punjab to address the impending crisis through a legislation. In August 2009, based on satellite imagery, NASA scientists too warned of a "collapse of agricultural output and severe shortage of potable water" in India's bread basket. Led by hydrologist Matt Rodell, who has been tracking the disappearing groundwater in northern India, particularly in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, using twin satellites of GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Change Experiment), scientists, in their report posted on the NASA website in August last year, had warned that "beneath northern India's irrigated fields of wheat, rice and barley.... the groundwater is fast disappearing."
The state brought in a law -Punjab Preservation of Sub-Soil Water -in 2008 prohibiting farmers from sowing paddy nursery before May 10 and transplanting it before June 10.
However, with the number of tubewells growing from 1.2 lakh in 1970s to 12.32 lakh in 2009 and another 52,889 connections released last year, the groundwater decline has reached 50 to 100 cm per annum in the state with the irrigation deficit of 1.36 mham being met from overdrawing of groundwater. The free power regime is also fuelling indiscriminate exploitation of groundwater. Though the state has started billing farmers this year, it is too little and too late. The farmers will be charged at a heavily discounted rate of 50 bhp per month, one-fifth of the actual cost, and the bills would be collected biannually and reimbursed to them as productivity bonus by the government.
To make matters worse, more and more farmers are replacing centrifugal pumps with submersible ones which are digging deep into its water table. The total number of such pumps has reached nearly 4.5 lakh in the state. In the dark zones of the state, the pumps have gone down to a depth of 450 feet.
The Punjab Directorate of Water Resources which is monitoring all the three zones of the state --Majha, Doaba and Malwa --says 325 out of a total of 551 sites under observation have shown a fall in the water table in the period from June 2008 to June 2009. After every paddy season, the situation gets worse. "Nearly 65 per cent of sites in Doaba have shown a decline, 63 per cent in Malwa and 47 per cent in Majha. Though some sites have shown improvement, it is very minimal," says K S Takshi, Punjab Director of Water Resources. Former Chief Conservator of Soils and Water, Punjab, A K Sondhi attributes this to demand-availability deficit. "Against a demand of 4.40 million hectares metre (mhm) -that is one million hectares of land covered with water one metre deep -the deficit in Punjab is 1.36 mhm.
This deficit is being met by groundwater. In the central part of Punjab, the water table was at 15 feet in 1964.
With the green revolution, it started declining. During 1993 to 2003, the average fall in water table in Punjab was 2 feet per year. Now, out of 70 blocks, water table in 40 blocks has gone down below 50 feet. The worst affected districts are Sangrur and Moga where the water table is below 50 feet in 12 out of 13 and four out of five blocks respectively " he says.
Read the full report at:
http://epaper.indianexpress.com/IE/IEH/2010/06/16/ArticleHtmls/16_06_2010_007_034.shtml?Mode=1
Assured procurement is the key to increasing pulses production
Close to the recent hike in the minimum support price (MSP) for kharif pulses, including tur or arhar, by almost 30 per cent, by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, comes the report that a Working Group of Chief Ministers has suggested that Indian companies be encouraged to buy land abroad to grow pulses, in order to meet the domestic demand.
At the same time, the government has decided to pay an additional Rs 500 per quintal for pulses sold by farmers to the government purchase agencies. In other words, Rs 500 per quintal is the bonus for growing pulses and selling it to the government. "The additional payments to lentil farmers will cost the government between Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000-crore. But it will not impact retail prices because it is in excess of MSP and purely on government account," a report in The Hindustan Times said today.
Accordingly, the country's pulses output is struck at 14-15 million tonnes, against a rising annual demand of 18-19 million tonnes. The rise in prices of pulses were primarily responsible for the unprecedented food price spiral last year.
Why is that India is unable to produce more pulses? After all, an additional 3 to 4 million tonnes, looking at the demand and availability gap, should not be much of a problem. Pulses have time and again been accorded priority, and there is a National Research Institute on Pulses at Kanpur, which along with other research centres have developed more than 400 improved varieties, than why is that despite all efforts pulse production refuses to go up?
Several decades back, the then Agriculture Minister Balram Jakhar, had first suggest contract farming of pulses in Africa. His suggestion was that India could ask its agribusiness companies to lease out land in some African countries, grow pulses, and then ship it back to India. In fact, I had raised my voice against the move, and my views were seconded by Dr M S Swaminathan, and the suggestion was finally dropped.
The recommendation by the Group of Chief Ministers, headed by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, is equally harmful. Only a few days back, I had commented on the move to encourage pulses cultivation in Latin American countries [See my blog: http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/2010/05/south-america-is-new-destination-for.html], and now I find the Hooda committee saying that "Indian companies can be encouraged to buy land in countries like Canada, Myanmar, Australia and Argentina for growing pulses under long-term supply contracts to Indian canalising agencies. Similarly, such arrangements can be made with ASEAN countries for securing oilseed supply."
The Working Group was formed in April this year, and also includes the chief ministers of Punjab, Bihar and West Bengal. "We should seriously consider these options (of buying land abroad) for at least 2 million tonnes of pulses and 5 million tonnes of oilseeds for 15-20 years," the draft report prepared after June 7 meeting at Chandigarh, recommended.
All such fanciful ideas are cropping up at a time when common sense has disappeared from public policy. Cultivating pulses abroad and then shipping it back to India is one such idea. At a time when farmers in India are passing through a terrible distress, with more than 40 per cent farmers wanting to quit agriculture if given a choice, I thought boosting domestic production of pulses and oilseeds could be one mechanism to make farming more profitable.
The hike in the minimum support price for kharif pulses is one mechanism to bring some sense of economic attraction for the farmer to opt for cultivating the lowly pulses. But price alone cannot do the magic. If higher prices alone can increase production, the task would have been achieved long ago. The fact of the matter is that higher prices have to be backed by an enabling environment for the farmers to invest in pulses or oilseeds. And this is where India has failed the farmers.
Even after the heady days of Green Revolution, what is not being realised that the production of wheat and rice (the two most important staples) went up not only because of the high-yielding varieties but because the policy makers had put together two-planks of what is called a 'famine-avoidance' strategy. Assured prices through the instrument of MSP became an attraction for the farmer who would normally be squeezed out by the trade at the time of the harvest. At the same time, the government set up a procurement system which ensured that whatever flows into the mandis (and is not purchased by the private trade) would be bought by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other government agencies.
This means that farmers got an assured price and an assured market. They knew that their efforts would not go abegging. And no wonder, production of mainly four crops -- wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton -- has gone up. These are the only four crops where the market is assured, whether through the FCI purchase or by the sugar companies etc., and production of these crops has been on the rise.
Pulse production has not increased primarily for the same reason. Even if the farmers were to increase the production of pulses, there is no assurance that their produce will be procured. Often farmers growing pulses have to resort to distress sale in the absence of an assured market. In fact, India does not have any mechanism (barring a few ad hoc measures like asking Nafed or Markfed to step in) to ensure that pulses are religiously procured.
Therefore, instead of encouraging Indian companies to lease out land abroad, the emphasis should be to identify the regions where pulses production needs to be encouraged within the country, given the suitable climate and the options that farmers have, and then set up a series of mandis. For instance, why can't parts of semi-arid Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and even Punjab be identified for production of pulses.
This is the time to rescue Indian farmers. Any move to shift cultivation of crops off-shore is fraught with dangers, and has unforeseen socio-economic and political implications. The increase in procurement prices has to be accompanied by an assurance that whatever farmers produce will be procured. Just do this, and be ready for a bountiful supply of pulses all the year around.
At the same time, the government has decided to pay an additional Rs 500 per quintal for pulses sold by farmers to the government purchase agencies. In other words, Rs 500 per quintal is the bonus for growing pulses and selling it to the government. "The additional payments to lentil farmers will cost the government between Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000-crore. But it will not impact retail prices because it is in excess of MSP and purely on government account," a report in The Hindustan Times said today.
Accordingly, the country's pulses output is struck at 14-15 million tonnes, against a rising annual demand of 18-19 million tonnes. The rise in prices of pulses were primarily responsible for the unprecedented food price spiral last year.
Why is that India is unable to produce more pulses? After all, an additional 3 to 4 million tonnes, looking at the demand and availability gap, should not be much of a problem. Pulses have time and again been accorded priority, and there is a National Research Institute on Pulses at Kanpur, which along with other research centres have developed more than 400 improved varieties, than why is that despite all efforts pulse production refuses to go up?
Several decades back, the then Agriculture Minister Balram Jakhar, had first suggest contract farming of pulses in Africa. His suggestion was that India could ask its agribusiness companies to lease out land in some African countries, grow pulses, and then ship it back to India. In fact, I had raised my voice against the move, and my views were seconded by Dr M S Swaminathan, and the suggestion was finally dropped.
The recommendation by the Group of Chief Ministers, headed by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, is equally harmful. Only a few days back, I had commented on the move to encourage pulses cultivation in Latin American countries [See my blog: http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/2010/05/south-america-is-new-destination-for.html], and now I find the Hooda committee saying that "Indian companies can be encouraged to buy land in countries like Canada, Myanmar, Australia and Argentina for growing pulses under long-term supply contracts to Indian canalising agencies. Similarly, such arrangements can be made with ASEAN countries for securing oilseed supply."
The Working Group was formed in April this year, and also includes the chief ministers of Punjab, Bihar and West Bengal. "We should seriously consider these options (of buying land abroad) for at least 2 million tonnes of pulses and 5 million tonnes of oilseeds for 15-20 years," the draft report prepared after June 7 meeting at Chandigarh, recommended.
All such fanciful ideas are cropping up at a time when common sense has disappeared from public policy. Cultivating pulses abroad and then shipping it back to India is one such idea. At a time when farmers in India are passing through a terrible distress, with more than 40 per cent farmers wanting to quit agriculture if given a choice, I thought boosting domestic production of pulses and oilseeds could be one mechanism to make farming more profitable.
The hike in the minimum support price for kharif pulses is one mechanism to bring some sense of economic attraction for the farmer to opt for cultivating the lowly pulses. But price alone cannot do the magic. If higher prices alone can increase production, the task would have been achieved long ago. The fact of the matter is that higher prices have to be backed by an enabling environment for the farmers to invest in pulses or oilseeds. And this is where India has failed the farmers.
Even after the heady days of Green Revolution, what is not being realised that the production of wheat and rice (the two most important staples) went up not only because of the high-yielding varieties but because the policy makers had put together two-planks of what is called a 'famine-avoidance' strategy. Assured prices through the instrument of MSP became an attraction for the farmer who would normally be squeezed out by the trade at the time of the harvest. At the same time, the government set up a procurement system which ensured that whatever flows into the mandis (and is not purchased by the private trade) would be bought by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other government agencies.
This means that farmers got an assured price and an assured market. They knew that their efforts would not go abegging. And no wonder, production of mainly four crops -- wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton -- has gone up. These are the only four crops where the market is assured, whether through the FCI purchase or by the sugar companies etc., and production of these crops has been on the rise.
Pulse production has not increased primarily for the same reason. Even if the farmers were to increase the production of pulses, there is no assurance that their produce will be procured. Often farmers growing pulses have to resort to distress sale in the absence of an assured market. In fact, India does not have any mechanism (barring a few ad hoc measures like asking Nafed or Markfed to step in) to ensure that pulses are religiously procured.
Therefore, instead of encouraging Indian companies to lease out land abroad, the emphasis should be to identify the regions where pulses production needs to be encouraged within the country, given the suitable climate and the options that farmers have, and then set up a series of mandis. For instance, why can't parts of semi-arid Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and even Punjab be identified for production of pulses.
This is the time to rescue Indian farmers. Any move to shift cultivation of crops off-shore is fraught with dangers, and has unforeseen socio-economic and political implications. The increase in procurement prices has to be accompanied by an assurance that whatever farmers produce will be procured. Just do this, and be ready for a bountiful supply of pulses all the year around.
Bhopal Tragedy: Urgent Need for a Political Cleanup
The Sunday Guardian (June 13, 2010), New Delhi, has published a Portrait of Shame. Since the newspaper is not still online it was difficult for me to cut and paste the pictures from web and paste it for you to see. It is not in that particular order, but here is the picture gallery.
While everyone is wanting Warren Anderson to be sent back to India, what is equally important is to take these powerful politicians and bureaucrats to task. The nation cannot let them get away so easily. At the same time, it is important to include (in this list) all those politicians who have been battling in the court for the multinational companies.
While everyone is wanting Warren Anderson to be sent back to India, what is equally important is to take these powerful politicians and bureaucrats to task. The nation cannot let them get away so easily. At the same time, it is important to include (in this list) all those politicians who have been battling in the court for the multinational companies.
There is an urgent need for a political cleanup. Unless we clear the known and exposed toxic elements from politics, no amount of clean up at Bhopal will ensure that such disasters do not happen in future. All political parties have to come clean on this. We as civil society should treat them as untouchables, vowing never to connect with them, a kind of a social boycott if nothing else works.
Wake up India, you need to do more than just feel ashamed.
Wake up India, you need to do more than just feel ashamed.
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| ARJUN SINGH: Then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, who made the state aircraft available to warren Anderson so that he could escape from Bhopal, never to return. Carbide is believed to have funded his trust. |
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JUSTICE AHMADI: He reduced the charges from Section 304B of Indian Penal Code (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) to Section 304A of IPC (road accident caused by irrational driving) and was rewarded with chairmanship of Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust after retirement.  |
KAMAL NATH: During 2006-07, as Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath argued for soft terms to Dow in the hope of getting American investments into India.
MONTEK SINGH AHLUWALIA: During 2006-07, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, was more loyal to Dow than to Bhopal victims. As virtual spokesman of American corporate interests, he played a key in pushing for relief for Dow.
ABHISHEK SINGHVI: Congress spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member offerd handosmely remunerative legal advice to Dow Chemical and wrote, on Congress' letterhead, to the Prime Minister in 2007 that Dow should not be held liable for the gas tragedy.
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| M K RASGOTRA: Was Foreign Secretary when the tragedy occurred, and used his office to help Anderson escape. He held a half hour meeting with Carbide chief that fateful evening. |
"Bhopals will happen, but the country has to progress," India's PM Manmohan Singh
There can be nothing more disgusting and deplorable. Only an Indian Prime Minister can make such a statement and get away. Imagine if the US President Obama had ever said this, even in the context of the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the people of the US would have castigated him by now.
And this reminds me of what Mr P Chidambaram (in his earlier avtar) had said long ago during one his travels to the United States. Talking to some business heads and tycoons, Mr Chidambaram had reportedly said something like this: "The last time you came, you came for 200 years. This time, please plan to come for a longer duration." This statement of his was quoted widely, and yet Parliament refused to be provoked enough to demand his resignation, and shun him for ever from public life.
P Chidambaram's remarks assume importance in the light of the mandate he is being entrusted as the head of the Group of Ministers (GoM), which includes remediation measures at the site of the 1984 disaster. According to The Hindu (June 11, 2010): "Mr Chidambaram and Mr Kamal Nath, who were the Ministers of Finance and Commerce, respectively in 2006, endorsed the proposal that would get Dow -- which now owns Union Carbide -- off the hook with regard to remediation, or clean up of the contaminated site. Ironically, both Ministers are part of the GoM, leading some NGOs to allege that their inclusion represents a 'conflict of interest'."
If this is true, and I have reason to disbelieve this, how can we hope to get justice for the Bhopal victims. Why shouldn't we therefore demand that the government set up an independent group comprising respected public figures to look into this, rather than depend upon the Ministers to suggest a way out. If these Ministers were capable of doing it, the clean-up would have been done long ago. We all know this is merely an exercise to divert nation's attention from an equally more important decision that was taken by the then Congress government.
Let us not succumb to the political blackmailing being done by the spokespersons of the ruling UPA-II to see that the name of the person who ordered that mysterious phone call to the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh be drowned in the din. Every day I see them on several TV channels, making not only a fool of themselves but also the nation.
The truth must come out.
It didn't come out all these years because we as a nation refused to do our bit. We did not express our anger and anguish. We refused to ask our politicians to explain why they kept quiet. We refused to flood the media (inlcuding newspapers) with letters demonstrating our anger. Even now I find, after the disgraceful Bhopal gas verdict, while there is outrage all around, people are simply refusing to stand up and be counted. They even feel shy to point finger where it should be pointed at. Most of the people who matter are afraid not to upset the powers that be. They know if they stand up they might be deprived from being a member of a task force or the other.
Merely saying that we as a nation are ashamed means nothing. If you are truly ashamed, you need to come out and do your bit. You could start by demanding former Chief Minister Arjun Singh to be forced to spell out the name of the person who called him on that day to release Warren Anderson. You could start by asking the Law Minister to make necessary provisions in the law that can make the judges accountable to the nation. Why should the law of the land not apply to Supreme Court judges?
It is in this context that I would like to thank the Outlook editor Vinod Mehta for publishing a report "Signals from Above" by young journalist Debarshi Dasgupta (June 21, 2010), which starts with the quote: "Bhopals will happen, but the country has to progress." Hard to believe, and enraging too. According to Sathyu Saramgi, a member of the Bhopal Group of Information and Action, a voluntary body, this is what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told him and six of his colleagues when they met him on April 17, 2006 to press for action against Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the American firm Dow Chemical Company since 2001. "Yes, I remember that clearly. This is what the Prime Minister said," Sarangi tells Outlook.
The article is quite revealing. It provides you just a peep into the sordid nexus between politicians and the industry. The bigger battle is being fought in the jungles of the tribal belt of India.
And this reminds me of what Mr P Chidambaram (in his earlier avtar) had said long ago during one his travels to the United States. Talking to some business heads and tycoons, Mr Chidambaram had reportedly said something like this: "The last time you came, you came for 200 years. This time, please plan to come for a longer duration." This statement of his was quoted widely, and yet Parliament refused to be provoked enough to demand his resignation, and shun him for ever from public life.
P Chidambaram's remarks assume importance in the light of the mandate he is being entrusted as the head of the Group of Ministers (GoM), which includes remediation measures at the site of the 1984 disaster. According to The Hindu (June 11, 2010): "Mr Chidambaram and Mr Kamal Nath, who were the Ministers of Finance and Commerce, respectively in 2006, endorsed the proposal that would get Dow -- which now owns Union Carbide -- off the hook with regard to remediation, or clean up of the contaminated site. Ironically, both Ministers are part of the GoM, leading some NGOs to allege that their inclusion represents a 'conflict of interest'."
If this is true, and I have reason to disbelieve this, how can we hope to get justice for the Bhopal victims. Why shouldn't we therefore demand that the government set up an independent group comprising respected public figures to look into this, rather than depend upon the Ministers to suggest a way out. If these Ministers were capable of doing it, the clean-up would have been done long ago. We all know this is merely an exercise to divert nation's attention from an equally more important decision that was taken by the then Congress government.
Let us not succumb to the political blackmailing being done by the spokespersons of the ruling UPA-II to see that the name of the person who ordered that mysterious phone call to the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh be drowned in the din. Every day I see them on several TV channels, making not only a fool of themselves but also the nation.
The truth must come out.
It didn't come out all these years because we as a nation refused to do our bit. We did not express our anger and anguish. We refused to ask our politicians to explain why they kept quiet. We refused to flood the media (inlcuding newspapers) with letters demonstrating our anger. Even now I find, after the disgraceful Bhopal gas verdict, while there is outrage all around, people are simply refusing to stand up and be counted. They even feel shy to point finger where it should be pointed at. Most of the people who matter are afraid not to upset the powers that be. They know if they stand up they might be deprived from being a member of a task force or the other.
Merely saying that we as a nation are ashamed means nothing. If you are truly ashamed, you need to come out and do your bit. You could start by demanding former Chief Minister Arjun Singh to be forced to spell out the name of the person who called him on that day to release Warren Anderson. You could start by asking the Law Minister to make necessary provisions in the law that can make the judges accountable to the nation. Why should the law of the land not apply to Supreme Court judges?
It is in this context that I would like to thank the Outlook editor Vinod Mehta for publishing a report "Signals from Above" by young journalist Debarshi Dasgupta (June 21, 2010), which starts with the quote: "Bhopals will happen, but the country has to progress." Hard to believe, and enraging too. According to Sathyu Saramgi, a member of the Bhopal Group of Information and Action, a voluntary body, this is what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told him and six of his colleagues when they met him on April 17, 2006 to press for action against Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the American firm Dow Chemical Company since 2001. "Yes, I remember that clearly. This is what the Prime Minister said," Sarangi tells Outlook.
The article is quite revealing. It provides you just a peep into the sordid nexus between politicians and the industry. The bigger battle is being fought in the jungles of the tribal belt of India.
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