Shetkari Sangathana founder Sharad Joshi tells Chandran Iyer of B&E that lopsided policies pursued by successive governments could lead to bigger famines
B&E: Let’s take a flashback to the famine that hit India during 1965-67 and then the seventies. What are your memories?
Sharad Joshi: Things were terrible at that time. There was not only food security but also acute drought. The whole of Maharashtra was reeling under water shortage. Most of the wells in this state had become dry. I had seen birds falling down on the roads due to thirst. You can imagine the condition of people.
B&E: Do you think India has learnt its lessons from that famine? Is our agricultural policy today strong enough to prevent it from happening again?
SJ: I don’t think so. Successive governments have pursued lopsided policies. Wrong policies introduced during the British tenure are still being continued. The British imposed the system of land revenue and its collection posed a big problem to even better-off farmers. Even now, in many places in India, landless people are giving loans to the farmers to help them pay land revenues. Even the coolies in the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC) are giving loans to farmers and turning money lenders.
B&E: The agriculture minister recently said that in 1972, there was food deficit while now there is food surplus. What is your take?
SJ: I don’t believe that there is any food surplus. The statistics comes from Food Corporation of India, which has to show that there is excess food, which is rotting. Unless they show that food is rotting, they cannot tally their accounts. They have to show that they do not have enough storage capacity. In the case of wheat and cotton, we are doing quite well. But apart from these two, I don’t think we have anything like grain surplus.
B&E: Can you pinpoint what exactly is wrong with our government’s agricultural policy?
SJ: What is happening now is that there is no official confirmation that the prices cover the cost of production. Farmers cannot pay taxes and the dues of the loans that they have taken and the electricity bills are a huge burden. The loan waiver scheme of the government completely forgot the electricity bills with the result that many farmers have been unable to pay these bills. So, there is no power and diesel is already in short supply as it’s expensive and there is no government policy yet on ethanol and biodiesel. At the same time, labour is in short supply. All these are precursors to a great famine.
B&E: Doesn’t it sound like a bit of a doomsday prediction?
SJ: What we have seen earlier have been famines due to natural reasons. But what we may see in the future is going to be the result of folly of man as well as fury of nature. To avert it, India needs structural reforms. Firstly, there is a need to scrap the APMC system. It has outlived its utility. They have never been able to fix a good minimum support price. The second important step is to scrap the Food Corporation of India. Thirdly, there should be nothing like a Public Distribution System.
B&E: Let’s take a flashback to the famine that hit India during 1965-67 and then the seventies. What are your memories?
Sharad Joshi: Things were terrible at that time. There was not only food security but also acute drought. The whole of Maharashtra was reeling under water shortage. Most of the wells in this state had become dry. I had seen birds falling down on the roads due to thirst. You can imagine the condition of people.
B&E: Do you think India has learnt its lessons from that famine? Is our agricultural policy today strong enough to prevent it from happening again?
SJ: I don’t think so. Successive governments have pursued lopsided policies. Wrong policies introduced during the British tenure are still being continued. The British imposed the system of land revenue and its collection posed a big problem to even better-off farmers. Even now, in many places in India, landless people are giving loans to the farmers to help them pay land revenues. Even the coolies in the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC) are giving loans to farmers and turning money lenders.
B&E: The agriculture minister recently said that in 1972, there was food deficit while now there is food surplus. What is your take?
SJ: I don’t believe that there is any food surplus. The statistics comes from Food Corporation of India, which has to show that there is excess food, which is rotting. Unless they show that food is rotting, they cannot tally their accounts. They have to show that they do not have enough storage capacity. In the case of wheat and cotton, we are doing quite well. But apart from these two, I don’t think we have anything like grain surplus.
B&E: Can you pinpoint what exactly is wrong with our government’s agricultural policy?
SJ: What is happening now is that there is no official confirmation that the prices cover the cost of production. Farmers cannot pay taxes and the dues of the loans that they have taken and the electricity bills are a huge burden. The loan waiver scheme of the government completely forgot the electricity bills with the result that many farmers have been unable to pay these bills. So, there is no power and diesel is already in short supply as it’s expensive and there is no government policy yet on ethanol and biodiesel. At the same time, labour is in short supply. All these are precursors to a great famine.
B&E: Doesn’t it sound like a bit of a doomsday prediction?
SJ: What we have seen earlier have been famines due to natural reasons. But what we may see in the future is going to be the result of folly of man as well as fury of nature. To avert it, India needs structural reforms. Firstly, there is a need to scrap the APMC system. It has outlived its utility. They have never been able to fix a good minimum support price. The second important step is to scrap the Food Corporation of India. Thirdly, there should be nothing like a Public Distribution System.
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