GM Crops: Tampering with nature and human health (in Hindi)

This horrifying picture is of the rats that were fed with Roundup Ready GM corn by Dr Seralini in France. After the feeding trails lasting 2 years, which corresponds to some 80 years of human life, this is what Dr Seralini observed.

डीएनए में छेड़छाड़ कर तैयार किए गए बीजों से उत्पादन में वृद्धि के दावे किए जा रहे हैं। कहा जा रहा है कि इन बीजों से फसल लेने पर कीटनाशकों का उपयोग भी कम करना पड़ता है लेकिन तथ्य कुछ और ही कहानी कहते हैं। उत्पादन में कोई खास इजाफा नहीं हुआ, उल्टे कीटनाशकों का उपयोग बढ़ गया। इन फसलों को खाने से मानव स्वास्थ्य पर क्या असर पड़ेगा, इसका तो कोई प्रमाणिक अध्ययन ही नहीं हुआ है। इन बीजों का धंधा अरबों का जो है।

देविन्दर शर्मा, कृषि विशेषज्ञ

पर्यावरणविदे ने मानव दूध में डीडीटी अवशिष्ट के बारे में हमें बता दिया था। हम यह भी जानते हैं कि डीडीटी कीटनाशक पेंगुइन के रक्त में भी मिला है जिससे पता चलता है कि इस रसायन का खतरनाक स्तर तक उपयोग हो रहा है। इसे स्वीकार करने में हमें चालीस साल लग गए कि डीडीटी एक हानिकारक प्रदूषक है। जब वैश्विक स्तर पर हानिकारक रसायनों को हटाने का प्रयास हो रहा है, तब कई लोग जीएम फसलों के माध्यम से बढ़ते विषाक्त पदार्थों को लेकर मानव स्वास्थ्य और पर्यावरण के प्रति चिंतित हैं। नया अनुमान हमें बताता है कि एक हेक्टेयर में लगे बीटी पौध अपने भीतर ही ४.२ किग्रा. विषाक्त बनाते हैं जो रासायनिक कीटनाशक के औसत इस्तेमाल से १९ गुना है। इससे भी ज्यादा चिंताजनक कनाडा का एक अध्ययन है जिससे पता चलता है कि ९३ फीसदी गर्भवती महिलाओं के रक्त और ८० फीसदी भू्रण में बीटी से सम्बंधित कीटनाशक मौजूद है। कनाडा के इस चौकाने वाले अध्ययन ने वाशिंगटन विश्वविद्यालय में मानव विज्ञान और पर्यावरण विज्ञान के प्रोफेसर डॉ. ग्लेन डेविस स्टोन को यह पूछने के लिए मजबूर कर दिया कि इसका मानव स्वास्थ्य के लिए मतलब क्या है? उत्तर कोई नहीं जानता। वास्तव में लोगों के चिंता का यही वास्तविक कारण है। वैज्ञानिक जीएम प्रौद्योगिकी के संभावित खतरों के बारे में दीर्घकालिक अध्ययन क्यों नहीं करते हैं? आसान-सा तर्क यह दिया जाता है कि अमरीका के लोग पिछले बीस साल से जीएम खाद्य पदार्थ खा रहे हैं और इससे वहां किसी की भी मौत नहीं हुई है। यह नहीं बताया जाता कि जीएम बीजों के कारोबार में लगे व्यापारी इनके दुष्परिणामों के बारे में क्लिनिकल परीक्षण ही नहीं होने देते।
अब अमरीका की भारत पर नजर

अमरीका में जब पहली जीएम फसल के रूप में वर्ष १९९४ में जीएम टमाटर लगाया गया तो इसके बाद वहां रोगों में उल्लेखनीय रूप से बढ़ोतरी हुई। एलर्जी के मामलों में ४०० फीसदी की वृद्धि हुई, अस्थमा में ३०० फीसदी और ऑटिज्म में १५०० फीसदी की बढ़ोतरी हो गई। अमरीका विकसित देशों में सबसे बीमार देश है। बेशक, इसके जीएम से सीधे सम्बन्ध के कोई प्रमाण नहीं हैं लेकिन यह प्रमाण भी तो नहीं है कि कोई सम्बन्ध नहीं है। विकीलीक्स ने खुलासा किया ही था कि वर्ष २००७ में कैसे पेरिस में अमरीकी दूतावास ने वाशिंगटन से जीएम फसलों के विरोध करने पर यूरोपीय संगठन के खिलाफ सैन्य शैली में व्यापारिक युद्ध शुरू करने की अपील की थी। एक साल बाद, २००८ में, अमरीका और स्पेन ने जीएम फसलों की उपयोगिता साबित करने के लिए यूरोप में खाद्य पदार्थों की कीमतें बढ़ाने की साजिश रची थी। यूरोप में अब भी जीएम फसलों की स्वीकारता नहीं है, लिहाजा भारत मुख्य लक्ष्य बना हुआ है। विकीलीक्स ने यह भी खुलासा किया कि तत्कालीन राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा सलाहकार शिवश्ंाकर मेनन ने भारत में जीएम फसलों के लिए तेजी से रास्ता खोलने की बात की थी। यूरोप की तरह भारत भी जीएम फसलों को नहीं स्वीकारेगा तो अरबों डॉलर का यह उद्योग समाप्त भी हो सकता है। बहुत सारे राज्यों ने जीएम फसलों के जमीनी परीक्षण की इजाजत देने से इनकार कर दिया है। संसद की स्थायी समिति और सुप्रीम कोर्ट द्वारा गठित टेक्नीकल एक्सपर्ट कमेटी की आपत्तियों के बाद यह उद्योग दूसरे चैनलों के माध्यम से दबाव बना रहा है। देश में सत्ता परिवर्तन के बाद जेनेटिक इंजीनियरिंग अप्रेजल कमेटी की ओर से १५ फसलों के खुले परीक्षण की पहल को भी इसी नजरिए से देखा जा सकता है। हालांकि कुछ संगठनों के विरोध के  बाद सरकार ने जीएम फसलों के फील्ड ट्रॉयल  पर रोक लगा दी है।


उत्पादन पर कोई खास असर नहीं

बहरहाल, पहले हमें इस उद्योग के वैज्ञानिक दावों को समझना होगा। जीएम लॉबी का कहना है कि जीएम टेक्नोलॉजी से पैदावार में सुधार करने की काफी संभावना है लेकिन सच्चाई यह है कि अमरीका द्वारा पहली जीएम फसल लाने के बीस साल बाद वहां ऐसी कोई भी जीएम फसल नहीं है जिसमें पैदावार बढ़ गई हो। अमरीका के कृषि विभाग के खुद के अध्ययन से यह पता चला है जीएम मक्का और सोयाबीन की पैदावार पारंपरिक किस्मों की तुलना में घटी है। यहां तक कि भारत में, द सेंट्रल इंस्टीट्यूट ऑफ कॉटन रिसर्च (सीआईसीआर) नागपुर ने स्वीकार किया कि वर्ष २००४-११ के बीच कुल कपास उत्पादन में बीटी का क्षेत्र ५.४ फीसद से ९६ फीसदी हो गया लेकिन पैदावार में वृद्धि के खास संकेत नहीं मिले। इसलिए यह तर्क गलत है कि वर्ष २०५० तक बढ़ती आबादी के लिए खाद्यान्न उत्पादन बढ़ाने के लिए जीएम फसलों की जरूरत है। क्या विश्व में खाद्यान्न की कमी है? यूएसडीए के अनुमानों के अनुसार वर्ष २०१३ में विश्व में १४ अरब लोगों का पेट भर सके, इतना खाद्यान्न का उत्पादन हुआ। दूसरे शब्दों में कहा जाए तो विश्व की आबादी को दोगुना उत्पादन हुआ। असली समस्या करीब ४० फीसदी खराब होने वाले खाद्यान्न को लेकर है। अकेले अमरीका में १६५ अरब डॉलर के खाद्य उत्पाद खराब हो जाते हैं। भारत में जहां रोज २५ करोड़ लोग भूखे सोने को मजबूर हैं। भुखमरी की इस गम्भीर समस्या का खाद्यान्न उत्पादन से कोई सम्बन्ध नहीं है। पिछले साल ८२३ लाख टन खाद्यान्न का सरप्लस था। यह तो तब, जब वर्ष २०१२-१३ में २२० लाख टन खाद्यान्न निर्यात कर दिया गया और इस साल १८० लाख टन खाद्यान्न निर्यात करने की योजना है। कृषि मंत्रालय खाद्यान्न खरीद में कमी और एफसीआई में रखे अनाज का वायदा कारोबार में उपयोग की सोच रहा है। 

कीटनाशकों की बढ़ती खपत

वाशिंगटन स्टेट यूनिवर्सिटी के शोधकर्ता चाल्र्स बेनब्रूक के अनुसार १९९६ से २०११ के बीच अमरीका के खेतों में १८१० लाख लीटर रासायनिक कीटनाशकों का उपयोग किया गया और वर्ष २०१२ में जीएम खेती करने वाले किसानों ने औसतन २० फीसदी अधिक कीटनाशक का प्रयोग किया। नई जीएम जींसों के शामिल किए जाने के कारण अब इसमें ५ प्रतिशत की और वृद्धि होने का अनुमान है। अर्जेंटीना में दो दशक पहले ३४० लाख लीटर रसायनिक कीटनाशकों का उपयोग होता था जो जीएम सोयाबीन के कारण अब बढ़कर ३१७० लाख लीटर हो गया है। अर्जंेटीना के किसान प्रति एकड़ अमरीकी किसानों से लगभग दो गुना कीटनाशक काम ले रहे हैं। ब्राजील में भी जीएम फसल के कारण कीटनाशकों की खपत में १९० प्रतिशत का इजाफा हुआ है। चीन में भी किसान पहले की तुलना में बीस गुना अधिक कीटनाशक काम लेने लगे हैं। भारत भी अछूता नहीं है।  २०१० तक ९० प्रतिशत बीटी कॉटन की खेती होने लगी और ८८०.४ करोड़ रुपए के कीटनाशक का इस्तेमाल किया गया। अधिक चिंता की बात ऐसे खरपतवारों का बढऩा है, जिन्हें नष्ट करना बहुत मुश्किल है। इन्हें सुपर वीड्स कहा जाता है। अमरीका में लगभग १००० लाख एकड़ भूमि इनसे संक्रमित हो चुकी है। इन्हें समाप्त करने के लिए घातक दवाओं का उपयोग हो रहा है। कनाडा में १० लाख एकड़ में सुपर वीड्स फैल चुकी हैं। शोध बताते हैं कि जीएम फसल के चलन के बाद २१ वीड्स ने प्रतिरोधक क्षमता विकसित कर ली है। कीटों में भी यही हो रहा है। भारत में बोलवोर्म नामक कीड़ा प्रतिरोधी बन रहा है। जब न तो जीएम बीजों से उत्पादन ही बढ़ रहा और न ही कीटनाशकों का उपयोग कम हो रहा तो फिर क्यों जीएम फसलों की वकालत की जा रही है। अब जैविक खेती की ओर ध्यान दिए जाने की जरूरत है।

Source: Rajasthan Patrika, July 31 2014.
http://epaper.patrika.com/c/3241805

You are what you eat. This TED talk by Robyn O'Brian will change your perception about food for ever.

This is one TED talk that everyone must watch. I am sure once you watch it attentively your entire perception about what you eat will change, and change forever. Here is Robyn O'Brian who tried to learn everything to protect her four children when she learnt that industrially produced food causes a whole lot of health problems. She read everything that was available, and has done amazing research. She talks of safe food, clean food and healthy food. She examines the business model of food companies, the pesticides companies and the GM companies. What she dug out tells you a lot about the food economy. It's time we all knew it. Each one us, as she says can't do everything but everyone can do something. It's your time to do something. Come on, what you do will go a long way in shaping our food economy leading it towards health for all.  

Surjit Bhalla's flawed economics stands exposed. If you still want to read him, do it at your own peril.

I admire mainline economists. They have the ability to pick up the facts that suits their analysis. More often than not I find their analysis, when sometimes I try to read such articles, is not only motivated by their ideological thinking, but also statistically backed. And since many in this country are in awe of mainline economist especially those who do the rounds of almost every TV channel, they either don't understand the flawed analysis or are afraid to stand up.

Well-known economists Jagdish Bhagwati is one of them. Sometimes back he had made a comment in The Economist, which had prompted me to write a rejoinder. My response, which is still available on the IndiaTogether news portal (Hold economists responsible too. IndiaTogether April 4, 2005 http://indiatogether.org/subsidies-op-ed), was widely appreciated and circulated. I know the stature Jagdish Bhagwati holds but it is important to puncture their incorrect hypothesis.

Over the years, this neoliberal breed of economists has only got bolder. They now come out with outlandish statements often bordering stupidity, illogical comments and theories which have little or no relevance to the existing realities. In fact, most of what the mainline Indian economists have been parroting has already been discarded by the western economists. And that makes me wonder whether India's mainline economist care to read what is being written now to keep themselves abreast or are simply basking in the glory of the TV glamour.

Take the following articles by some western economists which runs counter to what is being repeatedly said in India. But you will see such analysis will never be incorporated in the public discourse. Nor will the TV anchors make corrections when economists/analysts parrot the same old line. The reason: Journalists don't read.

1) Dani Rodrik has bust the myth that the wealthy and the Corporates do not need the governments. Let the markets operate freely and their wealth will grow. This is rubbish. In this well argued article (A class of its own. http://bit.ly/VXjoQr), Dani says: 'The reality is that the stability and openness of the markets that produce their wealth have never depended more on government action'.

2) There is hardly a day when you don't find the economists and business writers drawing attention to the virtues of FDI in retail. They moan the failure of the government not to invite Big Retail into India. They invariably go on repeating the same faulty statistics to justify Big Retail's entry into India. I sometimes wonder why don't these economists even scan the international newspapers to know how the Big Retail is faring in the US/EU. Here is what The Guardian wrote the other day (The death of the American mall. June 19, 2014. http://bit.ly/UPFiF1). If Bid Retail is failing in the US why are we keen to bring a failed economic model to India?

3) Developing countries are poor because they export raw material. They should add value-added products. This is the general understanding. But read Ricardo Hausmann of the Harvard University (The Real raw Material of Wealth. July 26, 2014. http://bit.ly/UxgYXO) and you are jolted from your sleep. But you will never see Indian mainline economists discussing such analysis. Nor will the policy makers try to understand and understand the argument. They don't have to, because they go on parroting what has been taught to them. "Some ideas are worse than wrong,' he says. How true.

4) For decades, Indian economists have blindly followed the garden path shown by World Bank/IMF. Whether they accept or not, almost every major policy decision in the past 10 years was dictated by the World Bank. A leaked report of the World Bank now puts at rest how damaging and environmentally destructive its policies have been (Leaked World Bank policies 'environmentally disastrous.' July 25, 2014. The Guardian http://bit.ly/1omTcK2).

5) At a time when WTO is facing a standoff, Indian economists are shouting at the top of their voice to force India to withdraw its objections on ignoring the food security concerns. Trade is being linked to more growth. Adair Turner of the UK's Financial Policy Committee of the House of Lords refutes this common refrain. He says: more trade does not lead to more growth. (The trade delusion. July 18, 2014. http://bit.ly/1pAJdNJ).

These are just a few examples.

This brings me to economist Surjit Bhalla's article in the Indian Express (A 'principled' Congress stance at the WTO? July 29, 2014 bit.ly/1oE83zQ ). This article exposes his flawed economic thinking. The article in fact borders on absurdity. In his article he presents a chart where he is comparing the international prices of rice and wheat with what the procurement prices Indian farmers are paid. Accordingly, for 2012-14 his chart shows Indian farmers were paid a high price exceeding global prices by 64.4% in rice and 62.9% for wheat. He doesn't even know that wheat and rice production is heavily subsidised in US/EU, and also comes with export subsidies. I tweeted to him, and he responded by saying that international prices are worked out uniformly. I then tweeted him back saying: 'If you don't know, read first. Don't go on defending your wrong analysis.' I attached one of my blog posts that tells you how EU utilises cereal subsidies to dump it in developing/LDC countries. http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.in/2010/03/eu-utilises-domestic-cereal-subsidies.html. 

Take a look at the $ 35.5 billion subsidies that US has paid to its wheat farmers between 1995-2012. (http://farm.ewg.org/progdetail.php?fips=00000&progcode=wheat). Surjit Bhalla's analysis therefore falls flat on the flawed data that he has produced in justification.  

If you see the enclosed chart, international prices are taken as an average over three years of the FOB price, which in other words is the landing price. There is no mechanism that separates domestic and export subsidies before the FOB is calculated or determined by the trade. Subsidies paid to wheat growers (including the export subsidies) actually enable North America and Europe to dump wheat in the international markets. The price comparison with the procurement prices paid to wheat farmers therefore is completely wrong. In any case, the best comparison should be with the FOB prices that India offers when it exports wheat. The impression that Surjit Bhalla is mischievously trying to convey is that Indian farmers are the highest paid in the world. If what he says is true then shouldn't we would have seen US farmers asking for the price that Indian farmers get? Shouldn't we see an exodus of American farmers keen to migrate to India?   

Economists like Surjit Bhalla have been churning out such biased and incorrect analysis to manufacture consent. As I said earlier, these kind of economists first draw their conclusion and then look for data which can support their flawed hypothesis. Well, if you still want to read them you do it at your own peril.   

At WTO, India bats for small farmers. Back home, it wants them out of agriculture

Crying foul over spilled milk. That is exactly what India is trying to do at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). I am talking of the reports of India's isolation at the WTO on the paramount issue of food security. After having signed in on the dotted line at the Bali WTO Ministerial in December 2013 to usher in trade facilitation, which the US/EU were very keen on, and without seeking any definite decision on food subsidy, India is now crying hoarse.

"India has made it clear that state-funded welfare schemes for the poor are non-negotiable, and it is willing to take the blame for delaying the WTO's 'trade facilitation' agreement rather than hurt the interests of small farmers," reports the Hindustan Times (India toughens stance on food subsidy at WTO. July 21, 2014. http://bit.ly/1nYi0YC). The news report rightly mentions that developed countries are pressing for early adoption of the trade facilitation agreement, which would give them greater market access but are avoiding discussions on issues such as public stock-holding of cereals for food security.

But this was known even at the time of the Bali WTO Ministerial. The then India's Commerce Minister Anand Sharma had made the right noises in the media but when the final moment came, he readily signed the trade facilitation agreement. All he could wrest in the bargain was a four year 'Peace Clause' for the food subsidy issue that is crucial for not only India's food security but also food self-sufficiency. I think there is first a dire need to bring in an accountability clause in the trade policy for our trade negotiators. Commerce Minister must be held responsible for the lapses he/she makes in trade agreements.

Having said that, I am amused at India's double talk at Geneva. While India is threatening not to ratify the agreement (along with South Africa) in reality it has already made budgetary provisions for facilitating trade. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has provided in his budget for Rs 11,000-crores (or Rs 110,000 million) for development of ports and at the same time announced a single window clearance for imports. So, the threat for not ratifying trade facilitation treaty is in reality an empty threat. For all those who follow the trade diplomacy, the best way to exert pressure is to slow down on implementation of the decision on trade facilitation, which India has failed to do.

On the food subsidy also, I think the noise that India is making at the WTO has nothing to do with the autonomous liberalisation that it is pushing for domestically. Read a news report in the Hindustan Times today (Govt to unleash food reforms to fight subsidies, inflation, July 21, 2014), it says: In an attempt to tackle runaway prices and subsidies, the NDA government has decided to gradually avoid purchasing more grains than are needed to distribute to the poor; while asking states not to offer market distorting cash incentives to farmers." Read it carefully and you realise that India is already going ahead with the WTO take on food subsidy.

1. In a recent directive, the Ram Vilas Paswan-headed food ministry asked states to stick to minimum support price (MSP) announced by the Centre and avoid padding these up with their own sops and cash bonuses.  This is in line with India's WTO commitment at Bali where it has promised not to further increase the MSP support (emphasis are mine). And then the report explains: MSPs are the guaranteed prices at which the state buys produce from farmers. higher MSPs boost farm income but fuel price rise. According to an RBI study, a 10% MSP hike raises short-term wholesale inflation by one per cent.

2. If states breach these norms the Food Corporation of India -- the country's main food security agency -- would not be obliged to acquire grains beyond levels necessary for the public distribution system as well as emergency reserves. Using the threat of not allowing food procurement by FCI makes the decision binding in the months to come.

These are not the only two policy changes that are expected. With the idea of a creating a national market, as spelled out in the Economic Survey 2014), setting up of an organisation over and above the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC) is aimed at making the APMC mandis redundant. Once the APMC mandis are dismantled, the question of providing a higher procurement price to farmers will be negated. When there are no mandis where will the procurement price be paid? In any case, this kharif season, Govt has raised the MSP for paddy by a mere Rs 50 per quintal (or by 50 paise per 100 kgs), which for all practical purposes is like freezing the MSP.

India can't blame the WTO for what it is unilaterally doing at home. #

Further reading:

1. Bali WTO Minsterial has only postponed the problem relating to India's food security. Dec 19, 2013 http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.in/2013/12/bali-wto-ministerial-has-only-postponed.html

2. Direct cash transfers are aimed at dismantling food procurement, and moving away from food self-sufficiency. Dec 19, 2012. http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.in/2012/12/india-direct-cash-transfers-is-aimed-at.html

How about Smart Villages, Mr Modi

I have never understood why Indian farmers continue to be ignored. With a meager outlay every year, Indian farmers have been producing a bountiful harvest. If only agriculture was to be injected with the much need economic stimulus package, I am sure the Indian farmers can flood the country with food, fruits and vegetables. India can certainly emerge as one of the biggest exporters of agricultural commodities.

In 2013-14, farmers produced a record harvest of 264.4 million tonnes of foodgrains. Production of oilseeds reached a record high of 34.5 million tonnes, a jump of 4.8 per cent. Maize production increased by 8.52 per cent to reach a level of 24.2 million tones. Pulses production reached an all-time high of 19.6 million tones, an increase of 7.10 per cent over the previous year. Cotton production too touched a record high.

With such record production, the nation remains indebted to the virile and hardworking farmers. But last year, in 2013-14, when farm production recorded a quantum jump, agriculture received 19,307-crore from the annual budget kitty, which is less than 1 per cent of the total budget outlay. This year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley provided only Rs 22,652-crore to agriculture and cooperation departments. 

The neglect of agriculture has become more pronounced since economic liberalization was introduced in 1991. I recall the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh famous budget speech when he showered all the bounties on industry and in the next paragraph said that agriculture remains the mainstay of the economy. But since agriculture is a State subject, he left it to the State Governments to provide the much need impetus to farming. But what he forgot to say was that industry too is a State subject and should have been left to the State governments. The bias therefore was clearly visible.

Although agriculture grew at an impressive rate of 4.1 per cent in the Eleventh Plan period (2007-8 and 2011-12) it received a dismal financial support of Rs 1 lakh crore. For a sector which directly and indirectly employs 60-crore people, Rs 1 lakh crore outlay for five years is simply peanuts. In the 12 Plan period (2012-13 to 2017-18) agriculture is projected to receive Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Compare this with the Rs 5.73 lakh crore tax exemptions showered on the industry in 2014-15 alone. It’s therefore a matter of priorities. In fact, as I have been saying for long, farmers have disappeared from the economic radar screen.

Despite such low budgetary allocations for agriculture and knowing that the public sector investments have been drastically falling in the rural areas, there is no visible intention of resurrecting the farm sector reeling under a terrible economic distress. As if this is not enough, all the noise in TV studios is to cut down on subsidies meant for the poor – food, fertilizer, diesel, gas and MNREGA. But there is not even a whimper on the desperate need to remove the tax exemptions for the Indian industry.

Since 2004-05, Corporate India has been showered with Rs 31-lakh crore tax exemption. This was expected to boost industrial output and create jobs. But while only 1.5 crore jobs were added in the past 10 years, industrial production has not shown any significant jump. On top of it, Corporate India is sitting over a cash surplus exceeding Rs 10-lakh crores, and has also defaulted the banks (termed as non-performing assets) by another Rs 10-lakh crores or so. It clearly shows how the poor are being denied their legitimate economic support and the resources are being very conveniently diverted to the rich elite.

As I said earlier, agriculture employs 60-crore people. Nearly 82.2 per cent of those employed in agriculture are small and marginal farmers. With a meager land holding, and with virtually no financial support, this majority population has somehow managed to survive. Studies show that nearly 60 per cent farmers themselves go to bed hungry. With agriculture deliberately being turned economically unviable, more than 42 per cent farmers want to quit farming if given a choice. Mainline economists are keen to finish agriculture and move the farming population into the urban centres. But considering that temples are the biggest employer in the country, followed by security guards and the lift boys, I wonder if that is what constitutes economic growth. Nevertheless since the World Bank has prescribed rural-urban migration as the ultimate indicator of economic growth, Indian economists have been parroting the same prescription.

Economic Survey 2013-14 points to the same direction. Raghuram Rajan, the Reserve Bank governor echoes the same argument. Rising food inflation comes in handy to up the ante against Minimum Support Price (MSP) being paid to farmers. APMC mandisare to be dismantled. Farmers are being pushed to accept the market doctrine, which means that distress sale will now become a norm. In Bihar, which has no APMC since 2007, markets have failed to infuse any confidence by way of economic prosperity. But that’s what the markets like. They should be able to source cheaper farm commodities thereby adding on to their profits. What happens to farmers has never been their concern. Nor will it ever be.

I expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reverse the trend and thereby make an historic correction. He has repeatedly been emphasizing during his election campaign on the dire need to make farming economically viable. He has also been talking of providing modern amenities right in the villages. Taking development to the villages has been the hallmark of his political thinking. A beginning can be made by revitalizing agriculture in a manner that it brings back the smile of the face of the farmers. In addition to creating 100 smart cities, Mr Modi should also focus on creating smart villages.

A smart village will automatically link local production with local procurement and local distribution. A smart village will not only bring internet connection into the rural hinterland but also provide support to sustainable agriculture practices. A network of small scale industries linked to agriculture, and a strong network of rail and road corridor, with civic amenities like education and health will transform the face of real India. That’s the kind of change India expects. That’s the big ticket reform the country has been waiting endlessly for 67 years. Smart villages will not only reduce the growing inequality but also bring acche din for the last person in each and every corner of the country. It will at the same time reduce the burden of influx on the cities, and help reduce global warming. #

An abridged version of this article appeared in Deccan Herald, July 16, 2014.
Why this apathy? 
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/419924/why-apathy.html

Smart villages, Mr Modi
Orissa Post, July 15, 2014.
http://www.orissapost.com/epaper/150714/p8.htm