Agriculture a story of neglect in the UPA Government

India’s has one of the largest  arable land  which is second only to that of the United States, its economy is one of the fastest growing in the world, and its industrial innovation is legendary. India ranks second worldwide in farm output.  Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry , logging and fishing accounted for 15.7% of the GDP in 2009–10, employed 52.1% of the total workforce, and despite a steady decline of its share in the GDP, is still the largest economic sector and a significant piece of the overall socio-economic development of India. But when it comes to agriculture, its output lags far behind potential. The Agrarian Indian Economy needs long term planning, positive thinking and Governments active dynamic participation. .

Yields per unit area of all crops have grown since 1950, due to the special emphasis placed on agriculture in the five-year plans .  The Green Revolution introduced high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat, expanded the use of irrigation, pesticides and fertilizers, and transformed the northwestern plains into India’s breadbasket. Between 1968 and 1998, the production of cereals in India more than doubled. But since the 1980s, the government has not expanded irrigation and access to loans for farmers, or to advance agricultural research. Groundwater has been depleted at alarming rates. However, international comparisons reveal the average yield in India is generally 30% to 50% of the highest average yield in the world. India’s rice yields are one-third of China’s and about half of those in Vietnam and Indonesia. With the exception of sugarcane, potato and tea, the same is true for most other agricultural commodities

The low productivity in India is a result of the following factors:

According to World Bank, Indian Branch: Priorities for Agriculture and Rural Development", India's large agricultural subsidies are hampering productivity-enhancing investment. Overregulation of agriculture has increased costs, price risks and uncertainty. Government intervenes in labour, land, and credit markets. India has inadequate infrastructure and services.World Bank also says that the allocation of water is inefficient, unsustainable and inequitable. The irrigation infrastructure is deteriorating. 

With a population of just over 1.2 billion, India is the world’s largest democracy. In the past decade, the country has witnessed accelerated economic growth, emerged as a global player with the world’s fourth largest economy in purchasing power parity terms, and made progress on most of the Millennium Development Goals. As of 2005, according to World Bank statistics, 75.6% of the population lives on less than $2 a day (PPP), while 41.6% of the population is living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 (PPP) per day. However, data released in 2009 by the Government of India estimates the percentage of the population living below the poverty line to be 37.2%,, making India home to one third of the world’s poor people. The rural areas are still home to some 72 percent of the India’s 1.2 billion people, a large number of whom are poor. Most of the rural poor depend on rain-fed agriculture and fragile forests for their livelihoods. A long and inefficient supply chain means that the average farmer receives less than a fifth of the price the consumer pays, a World Bank study found, far less than farmers in, say, Thailand or the United States. 

The problem has grown so dire that Prime Minister   Manmohan Singh has called for a Second Green Revolution “so that the specter of food shortages is banished from the horizon once again.” And while the PM worries about feeding the poor, India’s growing affluent population demands not only more food but also a greater variety. But the policy makers of modern India have failed to recognise and realise, the basic ingredients for agriculture and what are its inputs. By sitting in AC rooms plans cannot be made for the peasants and poor agriculturist i.e. the AAM ADMI, which constitute 52.1% of the total Indian workforce.  

There can be no Green Revolution without adequate irrigation and fertilizer, which is consistently deteriorating due to the faulty policy of the Government. The Current Budget has given nothing to the Agriculture and there is little emphasis in this direction. In fact the fertilizer subsidy for the year 2011-12 has been pegged down (at Rs. 49,998 crores) , which is lower than the revised estimates for 2010-011 (Rs. 54,976 Crores). With inputs for major fertilizers pegged to oil- linked inputs such naphtha, LNG and Ammonia the recent announced rates of subsidy for Complex fertilizers for 2011-12 already fall short. CRISIL Research, India’s leading Rating, Research, Risk and policy Advisory Company reports that the revised nutrient subsidy rates announced by the Govt. Of India on 9th March 2011 in order to compensate with the sharp increase in fertilizer and feedstock prices is unlikely to help the Companies as international prices have increased drastically specially phosphoric acid. For example the total realization (sum of subsidy plus retail price) at revised benchmark for DAP comes to about $ 630 per tonne, while international price is about $ 690 per tonne (landed cost). Thus the domestic companies lose a net $60 per tonne as per the current announcement. Hence it is expected that the Govt. would hike the prices of fertilizers after May this year after the assembly elections , which would add to the food price inflation.

Irrigation facilities are inadequate, as revealed by the fact that only 52.6% of the land was irrigated in 2003–04, which result in farmers still being dependent on rainfall, specifically the Monsoon season. A good monsoon results in a robust growth for the economy as a whole, while a poor monsoon leads to a sluggish growth. Farm credit is regulated by NABARD, which is the statutory apex agent for rural development in the subcontinent. At the same time overpumping made possible by subsidized electric power is leading to an alarming drop in aquifer levels. India receives an average annual rainfall of 1,208 millimetres (47.6 in) and a total annual precipitation of 4000 billion cubic metres, with the total utilisable water resources, including surface and   groundwater , amounting to 1123 billion cubic metres with Total utilizable ground water resources  433 BCM . 546,820 square kilometres (211,130 sq mi) of the land area, or about 39% of the total cultivated area, is irrigated. The globally-averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres (39 in). Cherrapunji, situated on the southern slopes of the Eastern Himalaya in Shillong, India is one of the wettest places on Earth, with an average annual rainfall of 11,430 mm (450 in). The 38-year average at nearby Mawsynram, Meghalaya, India is 11,873 mm (467.4 in).  State wise there is a disparity of rainfall, wherein most of the North-eastern states of the country including West Bengal  having a average rainfall of 1,881 to 2,818 mm per year and the south-western region of Kokan and Goa 3,005 mm,  Kerala 3,055 mm and costal Karnataka 3,456  having the highest rainfall and the North western region of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Saurashtra and Kachchh recording around 600 mm of rainfall, the lowest being that of West Rajasthan which records an average of 313mm per year. As per Central Water Commission - An apex organization in water resources development in India, the estimated utilizable surface water resources is 690 BCM with a Natural Runoff of 1986.5 BCM. There are 12 Major river basins ( catchment area > 20,000 sq. km)253 M. ha  and 46 Medium River Basins (catchment area < 20,000 sq. km.) 24.6 M. ha. The ultimate irrigation potential is 140 M. ha. with a Gross irrigated area  in the year 2003-04 was 75.3 M. ha. , Net irrigated area as on (2003-04) was  55.1 M. ha.      

India's inland water resources including rivers, canals, ponds and lakes and marine resources comprising the east and west coasts of the Indian ocean and other gulfs and bays provide employment to nearly six million people in the fisheries sector.In 2008, India had the world's third largest fishing industry.  Between 1980 and 2002, the government continued to heavily subsidize fertilizers and food grains for the poor, but reduced its total investment in agriculture.  In the IX plan outlay (1997-2002) the NDA Govt. under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee increased the Plan out lay of Creation of Irrigation Potential from Rs. 21,072 Crores to Rs. 48,259 Crores for 4.09 M.ha and thereafter in the X Plan (2002-2007) there was a provision of Rs.70,862 Crores to create a potential of 9.93 M.ha. under irrigation, but the scheme was dropped by the UPA Govt. for cheap vote catching Social sector spending in NREGA and Subsidised foods for BPL families. Hydropower potential assessed by the Central Water Commission   was (as on 31.03.06)  84044 MW @ 60% LF , with an Installed capacity (2004-05)  30942 MW  and Potential developed as on 31.03.06  16032 MW @60% LF.  Public spending on farming shrank by roughly a third, according to an analysis of government data by the Center for Policy Alternatives in New Delhi. 

However the importance of irregation is still not understood by the people in the ministry and the plan outlay to irregation is increased to Rs. 404.29 cores in 2011-12 from  Rs. 265.5 crores , against a total plan outlay of Rs.14744.14 crores in 2011-12 given to agriculture and other activities.The total plan outlay of the  UPA II  Govt is  Rs. 592456.99 crores for 2011-12 and the share of agriculture and other activity in it is just 2.4%  which speaks about the neglect to the agriculture policy of the government.  This is against the total plan allocation on Social Sector which is Rs. 1,60,887 crores , an increase of whopping 17 %  and is 36.4 % of  the total Plan allocation.

Today Indian agriculture is a double tragedy. “Both in rice and wheat, India has a large untapped reservoir. It can make a major contribution to the world food crisis,” said M. S. Swaminathan, a plant geneticist who helped bring the Green Revolution to India. 

India’s own people are paying as well. Farmers, most subsisting on small, rain-fed plots, are disproportionately poor, and inflation has soared past 11 percent, the highest in 13 years. The Primary Article Inflation for the Financial year ending Feb 11 was 17.8 (base year 2004-2005) of which food articles Inflation is 15.9 as per Data released by CRISIL research. The average WPI inflation for April-February 2010-11 stands at 9.2 per cent.  The Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington says changes in temperature and rain patterns could diminish India’s agricultural output by 30 percent by the 2080s. 

The inherent strength of the country economy depends upon various factors, which includes its people their structure, culture and habits, the geographical structure and Area, climate and natural resources (mineral, agricultural, vegetation, and climatic) and the religious and other important fundamental factors. If these adversaries/ shortcomings or resources which are deficient/disadvantageous in for some respect, if turned the other way and employed most effectively by proper employment of factors of production, may become a countries strength. Success is failure turned upside down, every shortcoming’s, strength and deficiency has some inherit advantages also and gives ample scope/ room for turning them into success. In fact a country, which employs its resources and shortcomings by converting it into their strength, is the most economically prosperous and developed.Our great Saints discovered, explored and researched with the rich natural resources and heritages of this great Land/nation and formed and applied their thoughts into action and way of life. Our great rivers, which irrigated and fed our people, gave life to the rich vegetation and flora, were worshiped. Saints hence discovered the important of our seven great rivers named and worshiped them, and formed temples and civilisations on their Banks. Hindu rituals and worship’s was incomplete without the water of these great rivers.  The NDA Govt. had brought schemes to link major rivers of the country so that the country is self sufficient in matter of irrigation and water. And the AAM ADMI i.e. the rural work force become self-reliant and does not depend on the Govt. for the Subsidised food and grains. This schemes had it been implemented, would had generated employment, produced electricity, food and farm products and made India self reliant, strong in many respects.  We do not need an Indian common man to be dependent on cheap Subsidised grains given by Governments, but a self-reliant strong India having water in every farm and work for every man.

.                                             Concept Idea and written by V.K.Singh

                                             Executive Member to
                                                  BJP National Trade Cell N. Delhi

UPA feeler to BJP, dials Sushil Modi to lead GST panel - Indian Express

UPA feeler to BJP, dials Sushil Modi to lead GST panel - Indian Express

Cultural Nationalism, and its role in development of a Nation

Nation may refer to any estate or country having its own boundaries, but the most legitimate definition may be said to be, large number of people mainly common decent, language, history etc. usually inhabiting a territory bounded by defined limits and forming a society under one Government. Nation can, of course, refer to any government, ancient or modern, but in this context it refers more particularly to groups that maintain common culture, despite being widely scattered, the red Indian Nation of North America, the Jewish nation(Israel ) that some how survived despite its scattering during the Diaspora . Nationalism is a patriotic (devotion) feeling towards the nation, which promotes freedom, prosperity and honour for its people. It works on principles of equity and equality amongst its citizens. It is a continuous and consistent effort to bind the people of India into one homogenous unit. The Principles of nationalism is devoted towards the people and recognises each of its citizen's, e.g. Hindu, Muslims, Sikhs, Christian, forwards, backward and dalits as equal and one. Love, respect and bonding between the people, guided by healthy and progressive attitude of co-operation and sentimental attachment towards every fellow citizen, is Nationalism. In this world of global competition, it is a medium of recognition for India in Social, Political and Economic fields.

Nationalism has a direct relationship with development which is reflected by the development of the last man standing on the step of progress. In the list of G-8 counties, we find the names of two nation’s Germany and Japan who had gained independence (from dictators) along with India. Both today are economically powerful and developed nations.  After world war two, Japan and Germany were the most suffered and distorted nations. Their economy was badly shattered, young and productive citizens killed and there was large-scale destruction of every thing everywhere. We may say that it is not fair to compare India with these countries considering the population and other factors. Let us examine it logically. The Indian population is too big no doubt, but per km density of population of Japan is far more than that of India say about two times. To say in precise Japan is more thickly populated than India. Let us examine economical effect of population in the growth of a country. The national growth of a country is measured by Gross Domestic Product commonly known as GDP of a country. This is defined as the sum of all goods and services produced in a Country.  Now let us evaluate the four Factors of Productions as defined by Economic principles. They are Land, Labour, Money, and Entrepreneur (Management). Out of these the last three are totally relevant to the Man and population. The money is the saving which a nation makes and employs in production. The saving of Indian citizens is high compared to other nations. The Entrepreneur is one who takes risk, the management factor of the undertaking and is denoted by technical and managerial skills; here also Indians are leading, with one of the worlds’ largest and best skilled, intelligent, dynamic and progressive man power. Here the only restricting factor is the land, which developed countries like Japan, has made up by building Multi stored buildings, modern technique of Agriculture and reclamation of Sea Land. Is there any difference between, Indians and Japanese men? Are Japanese physically and mentally more strong, intelligent or dynamic. The reply would come in negative. It is only the human mind and the patriotic love, unity   and devotion towards the nation that makes the difference. It is a saying that goes very well with Japan, "Where there is a will there is a way". The mind and its attitude rule every thing of human development and progress. Let us examine the cultural and social structure of Japan. Japan is a democratic country with a very different work culture. When a Japanese worker is dissatisfied and thinks of fighting for its rights, firstly he stops taking to the management, then wears a black batch in protest, and then if his demands are not met they double or triple the production, making the management helpless, owing to heavy rejection of goods and locking of working capital and Goods. Japanese never think of closing the gate and stop working, as they love their nation and know that the nation can not afford unutilised man-hours.

Culture is Art, taste, living style, customs and manners, type of intellectual development or civilisation of people. Indian culture is commonly known as Hinduism, Bharatiata or Hindutava and has been defined by the Indian Supreme Court as a way of life. The Gazetteer of India clearly mentions Hinduism or Hindutava as having the same meaning Indian culture and civilization, had stood the test of thousands of years, has been built, most of all by the labour, sacrifice and wisdom of Hindu sages, mystic saints, savants and patriots and the people themselves. The Hindu Characteristic of tolerance in faith, beliefs and observances has asserted itself, new modes of living together in harmony. There is similarity between customs and habits of the Hindus, Christians and Muslims despite religious disparity. In important matters connected with the ceremonies of birth, marriage and death, their ceremonial is broadly speaking, similar. This was no-doubt due to the fact that the majority of the Muslims and Christians are Hindu converts, who were deeply attached to their old habits of life. Many of them celebrate, perform and relish Hindu customs and festival, and till date many Muslim families are performing certain rituals and festivals of Hindus. All sections of people enjoy, participate and celebrate the functions of each other. Social life being shaped by the administrative set-up economic developments and contemporary religious trends have seen varied changes all converging upon of the Hindustani values and a general enrichment of life. The Muslims and Christians have learnt to live as Indians, regard India as their home, adopting much in their dress, food, manners and customs, superstitions, social divisions etc.

 The essence in Hinduism has led to the research for universal in religion. Indian culture and its basic principle of unity and living in harmony have stood the test of time. The true spirit of Hinduism has ignored all barriers of caste, creed and religion. From times immemorial it is there and found acceptance from Turks, the Persian, the Arabs, the Moghuls and English and all other foreigners and is today a fusion of several other cultures, with the more emphasis on building creative minds, thoughts and Hindu way of spiritual enlightenment. It was instrumental in binding the Indian society into one harmonious unit.

Indian civilisation is one of the oldest in the world. An evaluation and analytical study of History and archaeological excavation and research, Hindu mythological text produces it as the oldest. It was so advance, developed and practical that it found acceptance in most parts of the world. The Indian culture, religion, education, spread and influenced almost every corner of eastern Asia, which includes China, Thailand, Malaya, Burma, Indonesia, Java & Sumatra, Japan etc. Indian cultural influence extended to west and Central Asia as well. There was no attempt at political expansion in the west; this cultural expansion was so much that it extended further. There was an Indian Kingdom in Khotan alleged to have been founded by a son of emperor Ashoka (250-100 B.C.). Buddhism was introduced in that kingdom more than a century after its establishment. The whole of central Asia was a meeting place different culture and it was a silk route between Rome and China. 

There is a popular saying in ancient Indian Text books that in Kaliyuga (the current Era) Sangha i.e.  Unity is the strength.   A nation can only be strong and developed if its citizens and the society is united, homogeneous and love their country by heart. The appeasement policy of some political Parties towards certain section of the society has unfortunately resulted in sowing of seeds of communal discord amongst the people of India. Due to Vote Bank politics Hinduism or Hindutava is branded as communal, which is most shocking and damaging. Non- Hindutava or Hinduism thoughts and ways are today projected by some political parties as a symbol of political success. The people of India have proved through ages that Hinduism is their spirit of living, and they have always rejected division on the basis of caste, creed and religion. Our Ancestors built Hinduism for unifying and binding the people into one integrated, secular, homogenous, coherent, progressive and dynamic society. And further to build this nation into an economic power. Hence it’s also called a nationalist movement.