The recent interview of Shri Sudhir Kumar Goyal, Divisional Commissioner Amaravati, in charge of Relief, and ex Agriculture commissioner of Maharashtra, who was shunted out for advocating low cost agricultural practices raises some very interesting questions.
The first question is why is he raising this issue of low cost agricultural practices, now at this stage of the Vidarbha farmers suicides saga. Considering that he has been an integral part of Maharashtra agriculture stratgey, and indeed a central player, this realization of his, comes at a very opportune moment.
... jab chidiya chug gayee khet ...
It seems Shri Goyal wants to shed a few tears for suicidal farmers.
He says ...." My heart goes out for those who ended their lives, out of acute frustration, and for their bereaved families, even as I am worried about those caught in the web of a flawed system."
Senior bureaucrats are not happy trying to pick up the mess created by political decisions of politicians and ministers. However, Shri Goyal does seem to think that he has a message for the farmers.
The irony is that he is confusing political decisions with bureaucratic good intentions, and not clarifying why he is feeling sorry for suicidal farmers at this stage.
One Shri Goyal is not going to stop the spate of farmer suicides.
Shri Goyal is not mentioning the fact, that the decision to push cotton farming in the water scarce regions, was a political decision taken by his political masters rather than by him. He was merely in charge of implementation.
It is not often that a senior bureaucrat goes on record, to make statements that are actually an attempt to pick up the pieces, of decisions taken by political leaders. That the issue is much more serious than the ambit of a Divisional Commissioner is not in doubt. But that political leaders are using bureaucrats to make statements on the political decisions concerning agriculture, makes this statement of Shri Goyal the first of its kind.
The question is who should we believe, Shri Goyal or the political masters of Shri Goyal. Who is really responsible for the mess in Vidarbha ? Who is really responsible for cost intensive farming in unirrigated areas, ministers, bureaucrats, agriculture extension colleges, private companies, moneylenders, banks or the farmers themselves.
Why did the government banks advance loans, if they knew as Shri Goyal, in all his wisdom now knows, that cost intensive farming in non irrigated areas is a high risk proposition ?
And then, are the farmers in the irrigated areas, doing cost intensive cultivation becoming the crorepatis and doing better ?
Maybe the Divisional Commissioners of Punjab, the IAS brothers of Shri Goyal, will tell us yet another twist of this story of agrarian failures in India and the collapse of Green Revolution.
Friday, February 16, 2007
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