Who will consume this poison

Thought for the day

"Gray hairs are signs of wisdom if you hold your tongue, speak and they are but hairs, as in the young."

—Rabindranath Tagore (Indian, 1861-1941)

Word for the day

Contextomy (n)

The practice of misquoting someone by shortening the quotation or by leaving out surrounding words or sentences that would place the quotation in context.

Malice towards none

What Imran Khan might have meant is "you take one step toward PoK, we'll take two steps towards Kashmir".

 

First random thought this morning

Recently Mr. rakesh Kaoor, Global CEO of Reckitt Benckiser was quoted having said that his company has been aggressively leveraging the government’s Swachh Bharat programme to push its brands, including rolling out low-priced smaller packs of Harpic cleaners and Dettol soap to penetrate rural markets and accelerate change in consumption habits of consumers. Does that mean Swach Bharat program has been designed to benefit "corporate friends" of PM Modi?

If Congress truly wants to be a serious contestant in 2019 election, it should come out of its Modiphobia and try to present a constructive agenda for the sustainable inclusive growth. Modi can't be defeated with just frivolities.

Who will consume this poison

In Hindu mythology, once the forces of good (Sura) and evil (Asura) had a protracted battle. The battle lasted so long that both the groups exhausted all their resources and valor. Completely tired, wounded, frustrated and exhausted, they approached the savior Lord Vishnu. The Savior advised them to go and explore the great ocean to find new resources and vigor to make a fresh beginning.

Following the advice, both the groups went to the great ocean and explored it extensively. During their exploration mission, they discovered huge amount of wealth and resources that included the nectar and venom.

The venom was discovered in the lunar month of Shravan, two months before the nectar, which was discovered in the lunar month of Ashwin.

When the venom was extracted from the ocean, the whole universe was threatened by its radiation. Sensing the apocalypse, Lord Vishnu requested the almighty Lord Shiva to absorb the venom so that it does not harm anyone and the balance of the universe is maintained. Obliging, Lord Shiva drank the entire venom and preserved it in his throat.

The legend goes, after consuming venom, the body of Lord Shiva started emitting radiation and he was in great pain due to the negative energies. In Treta Yug, seeing his Lord in pain, his staunch devotee Ravan, the Asur King of Lanka, brought the holy water of Ganga and poured over his Lord's body. It released all the negative energies of poison Lord Shiva had consumed from his body and relieved him of all pain.

The Hindu month of Shravan (or Savan as in film songs) has started last week. This month is traditionally known as month of Shiva, the Lord of Asceticism. During this month, the devotees are advised to abstain from all material pursuits and pleasures, observe fast & abstinence, and pray to the Lord for the welfare of the entire mankind, rising above the self.

Following the legend, people walk of hundreds of miles to bring sacred Ganga Jal to the constituent of Shiva, resident in their locality. The purpose behind undertaking this arduous journey is to commit oneself to the ideas of universality of the human being, selflessness, devotion and surrender.

A journey on the highways from Haridwar & Rishikesh, used by millions of devotees to bring Gangajal for offering to their respective local Shiva temples, during this fortnight, does not evoke much positive feelings amongst people. To some extent, it even raises a sense of disgust and derision towards traditions and cultures. The holy annual event has largely been reduced to frivolous celebrations and hooliganism. The devotees of Lord Shiva, who consumed venom to save the humanity, leave a long trail of venomous pollution behind them. A deeper study is needed urgently to identify the causes of this cultural degeneration and to suggest remedial course. Else we risk losing our culture and traditions; and trust me nothing will be left of India if so were to happen.

Doubling farmers' income

Thought for the day

"Emancipation from the bondage of the soil is no freedom for the tree."

—Rabindranath Tagore (Indian, 1861-1941)

Word for the day

Carte blanch (n)

Unconditional authority; full discretionary power:

Malice towards none

Legalizing the widespread overloading practice by truckers has not helped much. They still went on strike.

Do you read a conspiracy here?

 

First random thought this morning

GST council has announced another round of rate rationalization. With this round, now only 35 items are left in the 28% slab. Most of these items are for use by upper middle class and rich like air conditioners, cars etc. This is significant, as just one year ago, we started with over 220 items in 28% slab.

At this rate, we may move to 18% maximum slab in 2-3years.

Is it natural progression or Rahul Gandhi is setting the agenda and government is just complying?

Doubling farmers' income

Doubling farmers' income by 2022 and ensuring a minimum of 50% profit to farmers are two of the most prominent electoral promises made by the incumbent government.

The government has apparently taken many steps to fulfill its promises, viz., farm loan waivers, better availability of Urea, soil health check to optimize the use of fertilizers and enhance productivity, better crop insurance coverage, sharp increase in government support prices for various major crops, higher budget for irrigation etc.

A recent visit to the rural areas of UP, MP, and Rajasthan however suggested that farmers find the steps taken by the government inadequate. Many social organizations working for the welfare of farmers have also highlighted numerous lacunae in the government endeavor. The former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh recently echoed this sentiments and highlighted that the aim of doubling farm income by 2022 may not be attained.

I believe that a part of the criticism of the government efforts (both quantum and direction) may be purely political and undue. However, it is important to note that farmer distress is a genuine problem and they are finding government's effort lacking both in quantum and direction.

I have been repeatedly highlighting the problems faced by Indian farmers and some solutions for making structural changes in the Indian agri sector.

I would like to reiterate some of the earlier discussions. But before that it would be useful to note the following:

(a)   As per NSSO 2013 data 85% of Indian cultivators own less than one hectare land. Another 15% own land measuring between one and four hectares. Only 0.24% farmers owned more than ten hectares of land. The average land holding for all farmers is 0.9 hectares.

(b)   There is huge variation in land holding pattern amongst states. For example, AP and TN have largest proportion of landless farmers (more than 50%): Bihar and West Bengal have largest number of marginal farmers (close to 60%), where Rajasthan has the largest share of large farmers. Same agri policy for all these states is bound to fail. About two third of all rural households have farming as their principle source of income.

(c)    As per last NSSO survey data, the average monthly rural household income in India is about Rs6426 and average Monthly rural household expenses are about Rs6223. About 85% of households earn less than their expenses. About half of this income comes from cultivation and rest from other activities like labour and animal husbandry. 

(e)    Rural household spend about half their income to buy food.

(f)    As per the last available NSSO data, the average per student annual expense for education in rural areas was Rs6788 in 2014. It had risen more than 2.5x since 2008 when it was recorded at Rs2461.

(g)    The average hospitalization expense in rural areas is close to Rs17000 per case of hospitalization as per the last available NSSO data

(h)   Doubling the farmers' income by 2x in 8years (2014-2022) means a nominal growth rate of 9% CAGR. There is little change in real rural wages over past four years, and last year the real wage growth was negative. Considering that rural wages are an important component of rural income and a key determinant of minimum support price for farm produce, the government might need to review its strategy.

To bring any meaningful improvement in the dismal condition of India's farming community, a comprehensive rural development effort is needed. Any piecemeal solution like occasional loan waiver shall have almost no sustainable impact. The traditional farmer welfare measures like periodic hikes in support prices for certain crops, farm input subsidies, interest rate subvention have not yielded the desired results.

In my view, a sustainable improvement in Indian farmers' conditions is possible only under a comprehensive rural development mission. The mission should address the problem with structural reforms at three levels, viz., 1. Farm Level; 2. Policy Level and 3. Social Level. All reforms need to be pursued urgently, vigorously, simultaneously and in a fully integrated fashion, for having a meaningfully sustainable impact.

...to continue tomorrow