Now this is really crass and
sounds blasphemous when it comes from the Agriculture Minister of India.
India is the world’s largest
democracy.
It is also the world third
largest economy.
It is now the fastest growing
economy of the world.
It is also projected to have the
world largest share of middle class by 2030, a ‘must’ market for transnational
corporations and economies.
It is the founder member of the
New Development Bank of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa)
grouping, an important global block of emerging economies with potential to
drive the world economy (and the geopolitics). It also joined Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) this month.
It is a proven global power in
space technology.
Its information-technology
industry is among the best in the world.
India is being seen as a true
global power. Nations across the globe are accepting it. Suddenly, Pakistan is
no match for India. Until now, the comparison has been about how China is far
ahead of India – especially on economic indicators – and therefore, the
development they bring. Now, the analyses are mostly about how China is slowing
down and saturating and how India is poised to become the next global economic
powerhouse.
It has had a Narendra Modi led
government since May 2014 that is seen excelling in promoting Brand India on different
global platforms.
But, in spite of the all the
claims and realities, India is still an agrarian economy – with number of
people dependent on it.
But, in spite of employing some
55% of the populations, agriculture’s share in the national GDP has shrunk to
just 14%.
In spite of the fact that GDP has
expanded and services and manufacturing have major shares now, the share of
people dependent on agriculture has not come down in that large a proportion. It
means a GDP contributor that has seen consistently reduced pie in the overall
chart has much more people to support than other sectors of economy. If we
follow the simple logic of ‘supply and demand’, ‘supply’ of people dependent on
agriculture has far outdone their demand for a resource that is growing scare
in, i.e., land area has remained the same but has always been cursed to support
an ever increasing number of population directly dependent on it. That leaves most
of its dependents in a perpetual state of instability, i.e., farmers.
Growth in the number of
agricultural labourers since the independence has surpassed that of cultivators
by a large margin. India had around 70 million cultivators in 1947 while
agriculture labourers were at around 27 million. But in 2011, agricultural
labourers surpassed cultivators by around 26 million (118 million cultivators
to 144 million labourers).
P. Sainath writes that some 2035
farmers lose their ‘cultivator status’ daily. They obviously join the class of
landless farmers or agricultural labourers.
Every year, thousands of farmers
are forced to commit suicide due to financial problems and dependent social
evils. And it has been an unending black spot on India for decades. Unseasonal
rains during first few months of this year forced more than a thousand farmers
to take their lives in Maharashtra alone.
In spite of all its economic
advances and industrial growth, India has not been able to address many glaring
sociological gaps prevalent in the country.
In spite of its increasing global
stature, India is yet to find a way to address its increasing social disparity,
the widening gap between haves and have-nots.
India has still hollow and
questionable answers to debates like ‘India Vs Bharat’, Metro India Vs Small
Town India and Urban India Vs Hinterland India’.
And the ways to the way go
through our political establishment, elected to run the country, since the
first elections were held after the independence.
And when a minister from that
political establishment, from an elected government, expresses such insensitive
remarks, we feel so low – the nation, once again, is forced to feel that India
would never be able to bridge its ‘class gaps’ with such policymakers.
And Radha Mohan Singh’s is not a standalone
case.
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/
