Indian farmer and truth no one want to speak

I just returned my village and was wondering what is the future for Indian villages. Villagers and farmers in India are interchangeable since folks who stay in villages are generally farmers or doing something related to agriculture. With the elections over this major component of the Indian electorate will be forgotten. Without exception all political parties speak for the farmer and claim to represent their interests. Farm loan waivers, subsidies, free electricity, irrigation projects are some of the popular promises farmers get.

Despite years of support from various governments, despite setting favorable MSP ( Minimum support price) and other support systems the Indian farmer struggles to eke out a living. What the political parties do not tell the farmer (read poor farmer) as a profession it is not profitable due to the economics involved in farming. Typical Indian farmer has marginal to small land holdings (<1 hectare to 2 hectares). Most of them also do share cropping to improve the economics but get into debt trap. With 65% of the population stuck in villages the country is loosing lot of productivity from this workforce who are involved in work which is not remunerative. Most worrisome is uneducated and partly literate youth wasting prime of their youth in villages.

The solution is to improve agriculture productivity, automate, build ware houses, eliminate middle men, encourage co-operative farming, grow high value products and encourage exports. Of course government should invest in infrastructure to make this happen. At the same time government should invest heavily in education of the rural children and help them move out of the morass they are caught in.

Indian villages are divided by caste, religion and are depressing with out any real infrastructure. If India wants to move faster we need to rethink our developmental model for our villages. Panchayat raj and other institutional frameworks did help in establishing democracy at the lowest levels but are not helping in improving quality of life in villages.

I hope Mr. Modi will speak the facts and give a new direction to Indian Agriculture and save the Indian farmer.

Crying wolf

UR Ananthamurthy, Gopal Gandhi and other left intellectuals are crying wolf about India being an unsafe place for the minorities since Modi is taking charge. They are being unkind to the democratic process and questioning the choice made by a large majority of the population. They may have every right to speak up but right now they are using their fertile imagination to create questions in the minds of people.

Mr.Modi and his government should do everything in their might to protect the minorities and the vulnerable sections of the country while Mr. Gandhi should reflect on the Nandi gram killings while he was the governor of Bengal. He has criticized the then government but the carnage did happen.

A whole lot of left intellectuals, Nitish Kumar, Lalu, Mulayam and others are desperately trying to create uncertainty and raise questions about minority protection. They all should instead delve on their governance model and why people( incl minorities) have rejected them and their policies resoundingly.

Will he Deliver

Narendra Modi has done what no other Indian politician has achieved till now. He has demolished the Congress party and in effect has put that party back by 20 years. India has unofficially voted in a presidential election and gave a never heard of victory to Narendra Modi and BJP. Coming from a humble background and working his way up the ranks through sheer hard work he has displayed the stamina and courage of a warrior.

A broader look at the opposition parties which fell by the way side are all those who touted secularism and rights based policies as their mantra. This may be right but what they have not realized is this young India wants a better life, jobs and not doles and subsidies alone. For the first time in an Indian election the first time voters participated in large numbers and voted for Shri.Modi with their feet.

Low growth, corruption, high unemployment, arrogance of the Congress party, the ego of Nitish Kumar, the bumbling Akhilesh Yadav and the eternally stupid Netaji ( Mulayam) , Weakened regional satarps and the irrelevance of the communists ( they are still meeting in Delhi to discuss reasons for their defeat - Here is the answer you guys are sleeping at the wheels while India has moved on), have all provided a fantastic opportunity for Modi to deliver a knock out punch.

So Mr.Modi it is upto you to deliver and here is my to do list for you -

1. Cabinet - Pick the bright and best (I meant while accommodating your political compulsions). I am sure folks like Arun Shourie will be back.

2. PMO – Bring transparency to the PMO. Make them responsive. PMO should provide leadership in all areas of administration. It should run like a Project Management Office – knowing all and directing all.

3. Advisors – Take a leaf out of Shri. Vajpayee and have a set of strong advisors. UPA suffered because of this.

4. Center state relationship – You pitched for this, ensure it works. Stop the squabbling have a large heart. UPA was partial and vindictive. Helping non-BJP states will help you politically too.

5. Agriculture – Farmers have been the most abused by all political parties. No one tells them the reality in terms of what plagues their profession. You should take the lead and help them do better. Diversification, Higher productivity, High value items, exports, Investments in Irrigation, canals etc, elimination of middle men we all know should be the areas of focus.

6. Infrastructure –
a. Get the NHAI working, there is a whole lot of confusion on what model to adopt (PPP, etc). Clarity of policy should be your governments focus. Companies have lost money pouring thousands of crores into infrastructure projects and are suffering. Take it on yourself, pump money and ensure our highways are built in the next five years. India cannot wait for good highways any longer.
b. As urbanization increases India we will see more migration to tier1 and 2 towns, start early and invest in tier 2 towns and make them smart cities ( for ex: Surat, Coimbatore, Vijaywada, Nagpur etc )
c. Connecting rivers – It has been on paper for long .Please start in a small way and show the nation how it works.
d. Clean the rivers – Ganga action plan – and “Ma Ganga ne bulaya apko “Please kick some life into the organization and start cleaning up our rivers. Infact it should be a nationwide movement and a significant achievement for your administration.
e. Airports- Privatize remaining AAI run airports. They are not capable of building world class and efficient airports. Invest in smaller airports in tier 2 and 3 towns – connect India to make more of them fly more.
f. Coal mining – it is a shame we import coal having world’s third largest reserves. Clarity on coal mining policy is necessary.
g. Power projects – Most of them are suffering due to policy logjams, coal allocation, and gas allocation. It is a mess put some bright minds to give these projects life and Indians 24 x 7 power at homes. Extend the Gujarat Solar energy model to the country.


7. Women – Focus on literacy, protection, employment opportunities should be top priorities. Fast track courts for providing justice to victims should be established all over the country.

8. Human development index (human development) – This is the most important area your administration should focus on. There are a host of government funded programs in the areas of Health care, Education, Women’s empowerment etc under various departments. Need to consolidate these programs and make them effective and outcome oriented. India suffers from lack of genuine data on the above parameters. Unless we improve these parameters India will not get the respect it deserves in the League of Nations.

9. Sanitation – You yourself said “pehle souchalay”. The first person to speak about it openly. Instead of embarking on half hearted schemes like ‘ Nirmal grameen abhiyan” government should go ahead and build toilets free in all villages. There is no point in asking villagers to fund part money when they do not have enough to feed themselves. Link it to MNREGA and fund it fully. You can eliminate half the diseases in India by doing so.

10. Universities and Hospitals – We are poor country and government has basically abdicated its responsibility in these two critical areas. Your administration should focus on improving higher education in our Universities and bring life back into Government hospitals. Private sector is squeezing money out of the poor and needy.

11. More government – Your slogan has been less government, more governance, one cannot agree more. I would say that in the next 5/10 years we need active government at least in the areas of Infrastructure, Education and Healthcare. These areas are extremely critical and needed to be anchored by your government.

12. External affairs – Very poor state of affairs which need immediate attention. India should gain leadership in its neighborhood. As a large country we should set the agenda and work with our neighbors.

Thank you for the patient reading and wishing you all the best. Beware of your detractors who will try to distract your attention on frivolous issues, you promised development and governance; please stick to it for a second coming in 2019 “doosri bar modi Sarkar”.