Dry Cow Therapy, Rural Distress, Indian Economists

Dry Cow Therapy, Rural Distress, Indian Economists : New Agriculture Strategy
From Second Green Revolution to Milking the Cow Dry -

The concerned Indian Prime Minister, has been left searching for the right answers from all the agricultural experts, while his own Agriculture Minister ignores the suicides from his home state and manages the strings of the Indian cricket team, a job no doubt he loves more than finding answers to the task entrusted to him as Indian Agriculture Minister - saving farmers from rural distress.
Another case of Humpty Dumpty on the rural front, as Indians get busy with cricket season.
Even the Indian Sensex Minister is now feeling short changed, by the massive imports bills, deposited on his doorsteps, on the food front, which threaten to blow a hole through his economic strategy of industrial development and growth in Services sectors.
Soon after suggesting budgetary support and subsidies for sugar exporters, the Agriculture Minister has gone ahead on a global buying spree for wheat. He just does not seem to like Punjabi and Haryanvi wheat. It is not tasty enough for him or maybe a trifle too full of pesticides for even his liking.
In a bid to wash off the spots on the UPA governments Three Year Achievements, and what even the lacklustre opposition performance by the NDA could not accomplish, is being accomplished in the rural fields of Vidarbha and West Bengal.
Understandably, genuine Congress election strategists are worried.
Let us examine the content of the Prime Minister's concern about Indian rural distress, worded as it is in very general terms and coming on the heels of the three years of crowning achievements of the Central ruling UPA coalition and the electoral losses in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
In his directions to Planning Commission, Finance Minister and Cricket Minister he has pointed out :
1. Poor growth in farm output, at approximately 2%, is the main cause of agrarian and rural distress
2. There is need for focussing on short and medium term strategies for raising farm output
3. Burden of blame must be strategically be shared with states, as according to his understanding, the Central UPa government is having to face too much unnecessary criticism as being the most responsible player in the rural distress drama of Indian politicians and urban economists. The solution to this is seen as rewarding those states which come out with agrarian focussed programmes, agro climatic and local rural growth strategies, with possible budgetary support.

Surprisingly, the music of the old song of ushering in a Second Green Revolution, futures trading in commodities markets, contract farming, agro processing Special Export Zones, seems to have been lost in the wake of Vidarbha and Uttar Pradesh debacles.

He has stated "I would only like to emphasise that whatever strategies we choose to adopt must deliver some results in the short and medium term, so that tangible benefits are visible - to farmers, consumers and the rural economy as a whole.
This is important if we have to avert any crisis in the agrarian sector and fulfil the needs of a growing economy."
All the king's horses and all the kings men, couldn't put Humpty together again ... He directed the Planning Commission to come up with a major programme to enhance central support to those states that prepare localised plans.

This obviously means he is still not prepared to ask his heavy weight Cricket Minister to choose between Cricket, Food Imports or solving Agrarian Distress in his home state of Maharashtra.

The poor Finance Minister is keeping his cards close to his chest and will surely resist tooth and nail, attempts at further central aid to states because he himself knows the dubious record of states in preparing sensitive rural programmes of integrated development, as also knowing that further expansion of agricultural land exploitation is not feasible. Also known as the milking the dry cow therapy.
But the problem is who will be brave enough to bell the cat ?
And who will ask the stichers of the Naked Emperor's fantastic Invisible clothes to retire and stop promoting American experts as the saviors of Indian agriculture ?
Even American media is now caressing the Indian Prime Minister for his kind and visionary words on distributive justice, as the US trade delegations swoop down on Indian fields and agriculture laboratories from America.

Anti PMO Affidavit - Lunch Break

The anti PMO office affidavit filed by Maharshtra government is producing bureaucratic stresses and strains now, as per this Times of India report from Prafulla Marpakwar ITNN
Vidarbha Package is fast becoming an orphan that nobody wants to keep. It is becoming too hot for politicians and bureaucrats to handle and the blame game has started in earnest, while the Sensex Minister and Cricket Minister take a nap.
Quote -
Anti-PMO affidavit : Joint Secy goes on leave - by Prafulla Marpakwar I TNN

Please click on the following link to read the TOI news item :
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=TkdUT0kvMjAwNy8wNS8wOCNBcjAwNDAw&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

Email : prafulla .marpakwar@ timesgroup.com
Mumbai \ Nagpur : A day after Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh approved a proposal to conduct a departmental inquiry against Pravin Srivastava for filing an affidavit against the PMO, the Joint Secretary (Relief and Rehabilitation) has proceeded on long leave to participate in a 'vipasyana' camp.
Though Srivastava, an Indian Forest Service (IFS) official, was not available for comment, his office confirmed that he had proceeded on leave to participate in a meditation camp. Significantly, a section of Mantralaya officials expressed the view that Srivastava was being made a scapegoat.
Following a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a New Delhi-based lawyer over the failure of more than half a dozen states, including Maharashtra, to tackle the agrarian crisis, the apex court had asked the state chief secretary to file a comprehensive affidavit on the steps taken by the state government, particularly to tackle the farmers' suicides in Vidarbha.
In its affidavit, besides submitting adequate information on the relief measures taken by the state, the government also blamed the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) for delay in releasing the promised financial assistance. It also mentioned that since there was delay on the part of the PMO in providing the funds for PM's special package for Vidarbha, the state government had to make alternate arrangements for the purpose.
The PMO was so irked by the affidavit that it not only ordered a probe into it, but also asked sleuths from the Intelligence Bureau to obtain information from the relief and rehabilitation department regarding the financial assistance provided to farmers from the Vidarbha region, which the Prime Minister had personally visited.
Deshmukh and the then chief secretary D K Sankaran also took note of the anti-PMO affidavit. While they submitted a clarification to the PMO, an internal probe was also initiated to find out how such an affidavit had been filed, since it had the approval of relief and rehabilitation secretary B P Pandey and Sankaran. In fact, the anti-PMO affidavit proved costly for Sankaran, who could not get an extension after his retirement on April 30.
An internal probe revealed that the affidavit was drafted by Srivastava and later approved by Pandey and Sankaran. However, before filing the affidavit in the apex court, Srivastava had made drastic changes to it, but had not shown the same to Pandey and Sankaran. Apparently, when Pandey took Srivastava to task for exceeding his brief, Srivastava tendered an unconditional apology.
On the basis of Srivastava's apology, Pandey moved a proposal for his departmental probe, which was approved by the new chief secretary, Johny Joseph, and Deshmukh. Significantly, the proposal has been approved a day before PMO principal secretary T K K Nair has convened a special meeting to review the PM's package for Vidarbha.
-- Unquote

14/02/2007 - Valentines Day Suicides - Vidarbha

1. Manoj Vithal Lamture (22) - jumped in to well, Village Bhadumri (Yavatmal)
2. Ramesh Nilkanth Dehankar, village Patapangara, Yavtmal district
3. Sanjay Digamber Kharate, village Kenwad in Washim district
4. Aatish Bahgat, village Dongargoan in Washim district.

Today, Union Agriculture Secretary Dr.P.K.Mishra is supposed to be reviewing progress, and implementation details, on Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh package for Vidarbha cotton farmers declared in July 2006.

Simultaneously, farmers are spontaneously taking to burning EMPTY PACKAGE BOXES - mocking the "Vidarbha Packages" doled out by the state and Central governments.