The Agri mess – Consolidation versus Diversity
By: Amit Bhushan Date: 13th Jan. 2018
Crocodile tears are being poured over the state of rural economy including Kisaan/Agriculture. This is even when it is this sector which is a prime reason why so many Netas and parties can think of survival even in the ‘Game Yug’ of electoral politics. India’s diversity & cultural nuances with different communities struggling to maintain an identity is at the core of it. Basically, Agri/Kisaan and the overall rural economy has remained untouched by ‘development’, so much so that there is almost no ‘village level planning’ or even a ‘village security’ structure. The local government/panchayat is supposed to run the show, which happens basis limited level of modernity and with limited budget. Almost all political parties would simply offer a ‘lack of resources’ excuse for a lack of progress. In fact progress itself means City-fication of these villages which happens as the City grows and consumes nearby villages into concrete structures. What has however kept the Netas and parties thriving is huge political play over how village produce is taken to market and a heavy political handle over the same. The Political parties and Netas who remain in denial and/or ignorance of this ‘Game’ can be prepared to be washed away although the final imprints would become clear by the Third Flush. Already, opportunities for the yesteryear Netas/parties are suffering as the political shops continue to bring shutters-down in wholesale. Of course the ‘Jumping Jack’ Netas may feel they are smart and the merry go rounds would continue, but they should speak to Netas formulating Coalitions and discussing M&As as to how it is feeling already.
Different political parties have used their respective influence to keep the industrial consumption of village produce under their political thumb. Be it Paddy mills, Flour mills, Sugar factories, Milk plants, Cotton ginning or any other sort, they remain vary of political bosses in Center and State. The banking/credit availability to these remains a factor of policy measures as well as connects and the players know this. The political bosses with the political affiliations would continue to play havoc with the sector’s fortunes by announcing different buying schemes/pricing/bonuses and impacting the industry’s ability to service such debts. This creates dependency of such industry on political Netas at different levels and no party wants to change this structure. This is even while huge tears are being shed on bank loan defaulters and runaways. Naturally, investors for the sector have remained apprehensive as the sector remains muddled. The state as well as center political Netas want this dependency and ‘Game’ to continue as-is basis so that they can ‘lord’ over the masses which remain ‘dancing puppets’ at the hands of these decision-makers’. This is besides any other weather/climatic woes that the sector faces. As for the industry, it is happy to corner money by other mechanism and also by not paying the bankers with political bail-out anxiously awaited after every elections to take care of running the show as-is basis. The challenges of the present government with their re-election can be summed as their ‘prioritizing Mandir/Cow over Kissan’ and continued fetish for ‘controls’ over the sector. Thus the ‘Second Flush’ is basically about the Kisaan trying to unshackle the sector and whoever has a roadmap to ‘liberalize’ the sector and free it from political whims is much more likely to score a victory. However, this should definitely mean a huge leg up in Agri-processing and clear emergence of supply chains to which farmers may affiliate themselves with based on ‘free decision taking ability’. This should also keep farmers and consumers’ interest in mind rather than profitability of businesses alone and therefore creating a supervisory/administrative structure is likely to be challenging. This is the ‘Prophecy of the Game’ for the Second Flush.
While there are many woes like urban poor and their empowerment especially with relation to healthcare, education/skilling, improving sanitation/waste management, slum redevelopment etc. However, it is clearly the rural areas in the heartland that are a cause if, when and how the electoral upheaval happens. However, political pundits from yesteryear would keep talking about the Cow/Mandir or Caste equation rather than ‘real issues’ even as population continue to tinker and experiment with parties/Netas and Coalition. Having said that, it still remains a taboo to blame ‘commercial news media’ and its interests in a democracy, even though ‘Your’s Truly’ has clearly depicted that how the media has eclipsed any talk about the bank defaulters and spared them for public’s gaze/scrutiny and this continues over and over again. And the businesses would rather continue play the ball along whosoever is in power rather than any ideation over what would ameliorate the situation like a GST-akin council for Agriculture fixing ‘Rules of the Game’ and adjudicating what is not to be done by States/playing field guidance etc. The National parties would rather like to maintain the situation and continue getting experimented at the hands of electorate, than scuttling this applecart. There lack of respect for any authority which limits their power and fetish for controls is too visible and so giving these up by creating new structures is too much of an ask, and hence experimentation continues. Let the ‘Game’ evolve....