|
The transformation point in YSR saga was, ‘his 1500-km padayatra in 2003, which brilliantly tapped into mass unrest over the agrarian crisis and catapulted him to the seat of power a year later.
|
YSR was a strategic risk-taker who looked around eclectically for ideas that would be useful to him and initiated a plethora of welfare schemes to alleviate extreme economic distress among the rural and urban masses. His most impressive political achievements were the confidence and can-do spirit he injected into his camp and the political credibility he won for his schemes through incessant mass contact…. YSR achieved the distinction of being the only Congress leader to serve a full five-year term as Chief Minister and was on course for a second full term. He tirelessly presented his mission as the transformation of agriculture and farmers’ lives and the ending of agrarian distress. His ‘Jalayagnam’ drive to irrigate ten million acres of land by 2014, his Agriculture Technology Mission, his vigorous implementation and expansion of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, and his schemes to supply rice at Rs. 2 a kg to the poor and provide free power to farmers won him enormous credibility on the ground. His death at the age of 60 is the kind of loss the Congress will find extremely difficult to recover from.’ T H Editorial 040909
|
2. Punjab farmers demand higher MSP of Rs 1.400 for paddy due to high input costs :
|
Due to deficient rainfall this year Farmers spent heavily on diesel to run the generator sets. There was additional expenditure on lowering and re-boring of tube wells and installation of costly submersible pump sets. According to government figures, an additional 17 crore liters of diesel was used by the farmers to complete the sowing operations, which cost them more than Rs 604 crore. This works out to an expenditure of Rs 2,500 per acre. Therefore, the state government has demanded that the minimum support price for paddy be immediately revised to Rs 1,400 per quintal for fine grade and Rs 1,350 for common grade rice. According to government statistics, there had been an alarming 70% shortfall in rain in May and June, and over 38% in July, severely affecting sowing of paddy. 310809
|
Sugarcane growers demand Rs 2000 SMP to meet costs :
|
Poor statutory minimum price (SMP) for sugarcane could lead to closure of many sugar factories in the ensuing crushing season.At Rs 1,077 a tonne, the support price for sugarcane is very low. Compare this against Rs 980 a quintal for paddy. While paddy is a six-month crop, sugarcane is 14-month crop.
|
If the support price is not increased to Rs 2,000 a tonne, many sugar factories in the State would be forced to close shop as many farmers would stop cultivating sugarcane. The cost of production was Rs 42,000-50, 000 an acre, the yield was about 30 tonnes. The cost of production has gone up significantly. While expenditure on diesel, manures and labour charges are mounting, the returns are not quite encouraging. The State Government should reinstate the SAP (State advisory price) and give Rs 300 a tonne. With labour charges going up every year, The Government should take initiation to mechanised harvest of the produce with 50% subsidy. BL 010909
|
| 3. Deficit in monsoon adverse effect on Agri commodity prices : |
The weakest monsoon in last seven years resulted in the Government declaring 278 districts of the total 626 drought-hit this year, damaging the prospects of many kharif crops, including sugar cane, cotton and pulses.
|
Pulses on fire: With the retail prices of commodities soaring, the Government announced plans to import 4 million tonnes (mt) of pulses and about 2.4 mt of raw sugar in 2009-10. Domestic tur prices have surged over 50 per cent in the last two months to hit Rs 90-100 a kg in spot trade. |
The country's sugar output is set to decline 44 per cent to 14.8 million tonnes this year.
|
Edible Oil Boils :
India imports eight million tonnes of edible oils by October end. The Government last year scrapped import duty on crude edible oils to contain soaring price. "Edible oil imports have already gone up by about 66 per cent to about 6 million tonnes so far this season (November-October).Over 40 per cent of annual domestic consumption of over 12.5 million tonnes is met through imports. BL030909
|
Govt. appears to be over confident that the drought will only marginally affect the organised economy’s growth. While that offers solace to a miniscule minority of the elite class in the urban organised economy; what does the policymaker have for the rural sector, likely to suffer a drop from its already low growth of less than 3 per cent and for those States largely dependent on farm incomes? The drought will further widen regional and sector inequalities; more than ever before, the need for an inclusive growth must occupy the policymaker as much as concerns about GDP numbers. Otherwise, inclusive growth will become more elusive
|
4. Non-Transparent RBI
: |
International comparisons show that RBI is one of the least transparent central banks in the world. RBI scores near the bottom in international tables in terms of either the level or the change in transparency. China, Pakistan and Bangladesh all have better scores than RBI on transparency, and have made progress on increasing transparency in the last decade (while RBI has not). The governor’s speech must be no more than 2000 words of plain. The present structure of the speech that comes out with each credit policy is out of touch with the way good central banks work. FE on RBI-310709
|
| Uncalled for Expansion of Definition of what constitutes AGL credit by RBI |
At present direct finance to agriculture under priority sector lending includes credit for the purchase of trucks, mini-trucks, jeeps, pick-up vans, bullock carts, and other transport equipment to assist the transport of agricultural inputs and farm produce. |
Direct finance also includes credit for the construction and running of cold storage facilities, warehouses and godowns. As alternate formal sources of finance are available for these activities, their inclusion under direct finance for agriculture needs to be reconsidered. XI Plan document |
The National Commission for Agriculture, headed by Dr M.S. Swaminathan, also pointed out that removal of the lending facilities and concessions of banks during the post-reform period have accelerated the crisis in agriculture. |
| Arjun Sengupta Commission Report also made similar observations: A close look at RBI guide lines/directives to banks, reveal that apathy either deliberately or by mistake also exists at the top and policy planning level…as the credit system operating under the existing guidelines of RBI. It emerges that small borrowers are competing with large and strong borrowers. The coverage under priority sector lending has increasingly been diluted, enabling big borrower loans at the direct expense of small borrower loans. |
As part of the so-called process of” aligning bank credit to the changing needs of the society”, the scope and definition of the priority sector, once dominated by small farm related loans ,were fine-tuned by including new items and enhancing credit limits of constituent sub-sectors to more than Rs.40 lakh. Over the years particularly after the mid-nineties, relatively high credit worthy activities like housing, education, transportation and loans to professionals have been included in the priority sector. This has affected unfavourably the credit flow to the needy sector. |
| Adverse effects of RBI discriminatory rural credit policy |
High growth of business of banks up to 2008 highlights the shallowness of financial inclusion. The metro areas account for 57 per cent of total deposits as against just 9 per cent from the rural areas. As for the distribution of credit metropolitan group gets 57 per cent of bank credit. Combined with the 16 per cent for the urban sector, this means that 83 per cent of bank credit goes to miniscule mero/urban borrowers with the rural borrowers getting just 7 per cent. The regional distribution of bank centres is no better with seven north-eastern States together (Assam included) trailing a single State, Uttar Pradesh, by nearly a fourth. |
| 5. Decline in Government Investment in the Agricultural Sector |
After the economic reforms started, the government’s expenditure and investment in the agricultural sector have been drastically reduced.The expenditure of the government in rural development, including agriculture, irrigation, flood control, village industry, energy and transport, declined from an average of 14.5 per cent in 1986-1990 to six per cent in 1995-2000. When the economic reforms started, the annual rate of growth of irrigated land was 2.62 per cent; later it got reduced to 0.5 per cent in the post-reform period. The consequences were many. The rate of capital formation in agriculture came down, and the agricultural growth rate was also reduced. This has affected the purchasing power of the rural people and subsequently their standard of living.
|
| 6. ‘UPA's 100 days: Long on promises, short on delivery’ |
A major plank in the government’s 100-day agenda was to bring about transparency and accountability by improving the delivery of government-administered schemes. A review reveals that there has been little or no progress on most.
* Decentralisation and district planning in 250 districts covered by the Backward Regions Grant Fund: These district plans were made last year, in coordination with NGOs and academic institutions. Till date, none has been implemented.
Despite the urgency in the rural development ministry for decentralised planning, no other ministry has initiated steps towards this.
* The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is the only one that has placed all data on its activities, including individual payments made to each worker, on its website.
* A Delivery Monitoring Unit in the Prime Minister’s Office to monitor flagship programmes and iconic projects and report on their status publicly: But no public reports on status of the delivery are published. BS 010909 |
