Economist’s Column The paradox of plenty and dearth together

Economist Column India is a country where plenty and dearth coexists together.

India is a country where plenty and dearth coexists together. This is exactly what happened under the BJP regime last year. This is the year when the country passed through an eighteen-month BJP rule and misrule on the economic front at the same time. The story relates to what happened with respect to the production and distribution of foodgrains in the economy.

The government is boasting of a good production level and a reversal of downward trend in the case of agricultural production. While one would easily admit that the government hardly deserves any credit when the good harvest has been entirely due to good weather conditions, the BJP is alone not to realise the fact. When structural advances, technological progress or land reforms do not accompany increase in production, how can the government deserve any credit of good monsoons? However this is exactly what has been done by BJP.

Yes, production was no problem for us. We experienced good monsoon. The credit goes to the tillers of the soil, as there was no vast change in the agricultural policies as such. This is the story of our plenty. Dearth occurred after this. Was this huge amount of foodgrains made available to the people? Could the underfed be fed with the produced amount of foodgrains? This did not see success as the prices soared up.

This is the period when there has been a record increase in the prices of foodgrains. It has been almost as 20 % with respect to the staple crops. This made the crops inaccessible to a majority of the population of our country. Pre-budgetary hikes in administered prices of agricultural products were the rules of the game to meet both ends meet in the budget. BJP was no exception in this regard.

These hikes kept off people from the ration shops or the public distribution system. If one looks at the record of offtakes, we find the offtake was reduced to more than 25% than what was achieved in the last year in 1998-99, and it was further reduced to more than 45% than what was achieved in the last year in 1999-00. So BJP had achieved in keeping people off from the public distribution systems. The public distribution system in the time of their birth was the subsidised distribution system meant for the poor and common people of the country. Now the poor are afraid of the system. Today there is hardly any difference between the open market price and the price in ration shops. It has gone beyond the reach of common people in the country.

The effect has been that a large amount of foodgrains is wasted, as there are no takers. A Food Ministry report recently revealed that India has wasted foodgrains enough in the last year so as to feed the entire population for six weeks. The losses amount to 10 % of total food production in the country. If one looks at the figures, it comes out to be alarming. The amount wasted in transportation could have fed 20 millions for a month. What is wasted due to moisture in storage could have fed 100 millions for a month. What is wasted through bird pickings could have fed 130 millions for a month. What is wasted through processing losses could have fed 140 millions a month. What is wasted through threshing losses could have fed 250 millions a month. What is wasted through rodents could have fed 380 millions a month. What is wasted through insects could have fed 380 millions a month.

Such is the gruesome situation. Wastes have piled up where one-fifth of the population has remained underfed. Malnourishment is on the increase in our economy. Food has gone out of reach of the people of the country. It has meant piling up wastes.

Over and above this, to make up for the Kargil situation, Vajpayee government has been importing sugar from Pakistan, although there is no dearth of sugar in our country. Newspaper reports reveal how Pakistani sugar has been imported via railways and not airways so as to hush up the entire deal.

Such has been the sinister attempts of the BJP regime only to ruin the agricultural system of our country. Their claims are falling flat against the realities. Vajpayee, the Prime Minister pays a deaf ear to, while the country suffers.