Colonel Dr Anil Athale (Retd.) writes an open letter to former President A P J Abdul Kalam to intervene in Kashmir and start a dialogue with the people.

Dear Sir,

One is aware that you are away and above politics but the nation needs your sage advice and intervention. It is not an exaggeration to say that you are possibly the only leader in the country to be universally admired and respected. Your commitment to the nation and its people is beyond doubt. The country needs your help.

The problem in Kashmir valley today is that a large part of the population does not accept that they are Indians and thus want to secede. Economic packages and employment promises are not going to solve the basic issue.

In last 63 years we have as a nation failed to bring about emotional integration of the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country. Cross border manipulation has played its role, but the basic fault still lies with us. It is too much to expect to the political establishment to accept this hence the civil society must play its role.

Kashmir valley, the name that goes back to ancient past and is related to Kashyap Rishi. In the later period the valley played a major role under King Lalitaditya and Avantivarman (the ruins at Avanipura are a testimony to it. The Buddhist ruins at Harwan are another historical evidence of the past. Under Sultan Zain ul Abadin, Kashmir saw its golden age. In the later period it successively came under Mughals, Afghans and Sikhs. Kashmir's history, ethinicity, language and religion were always linked to the rest of India. But due to the peculiar circumstances of 1947 we successfully created a myth of Kashmir's uniqueness and separate identity. While talking of diversity all the time we forgot the 'unity' part.

Today the political class, the administration and armed forces are clueless about how to go about ending the impasse that has led to death of young people in violence, a blot on any civilised society and a democratic country.

Kashmir has seen similar angry moments in past as well. In 1947 it was against the invaders from Pakistan, there are many soldiers alive today who remember how they were welcomed with rose petals! In 1953, the pendulum had swung the other way after Sheikh Abdullah's arrest. In 1964 there was turmoil when the Prophet's relic went missing. In 1979 when ZA Bhutto was hanged, the valley saw anti-Pakistan sentiment at its peak with a huge congregation at Hazratbal (on April 4, 1979) thanking the almighty that Kashmir chose to remain with India rather than going to Pakistan. The upsurge of 1989-90 that saw exodus of 200,000 Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley, is another benchmark in the chequered history of Kashmir.

The one conclusion that one draw from these events is that Indians have failed to understand what the Kashmiris want? 'Azadi' is fine as a slogan but what does it actually mean to a stone-pelting woman in the Valley? All the talk about 'solution' et al is barren and futile without clearly understanding the 'real' demands of Kashmir citizens. Today the communication is broken down and even the so called separatist leaders are really not in connect with the people.

The first step to begin solving the problem is to establish a dialogue. There is no one else more suited to do this than you.

In addition you may like to co-opt Aamir Khan (the thinking artist and social activist though cinema), human rights champion like Swami Agnivesh, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar, chief Mufti of Deoband seminary, Maulana Wanjiduddin, and an activist like Sanjay Nahar of Sarhad (a Pune-based NGO that has been active in helping Kashmiri students).

This group should go and establish contact with the people of valley to find out what they want and what their grievances are. It should be made very clear that your mission is merely of fact finding and not towards finding any solution as such.

Only once we establish communication with the people can we begin to formulate a way out of this present cycle of violence.

I am sure sir you will rise to the occasion and help out the people in this difficult situation. I apologise in advance for being presumptuous, but as one of your many admirers I think I have a right to make this public appeal.

Yours sincerely

Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd)

The author is co-ordinator of Pune based think tank Initiative for Peace and disarmament. The author has been active in Kashmir since 1991 and had launched Project Hope in 1994 by inducting computers in schools in Kupwara, introducing modern horticulture in Rajouri Punch area as a pre-cursor to Operation Sadbhavana.

Food Processing: The Sunrise sector in Bihar

Bihar is a land of immense opportunities for food processing owing to its agricultural potential, enabling policy environment and new schemes launched by Govt. of Bihar. Bihar produces 50 lakhs MT Paddy in an area of 40 lakhs ha and 20 lakhs MT of Maize in an area of 7 lakhs ha. It is third largest producer of vegetables (approx. 130 lakhs MT), seventh largest producer of fruits (approx 30 lakhs MT) and has unique products like litchi, Makhana, Banana and Mangoes.

The opportunities for rice based industries in Bihar, including modern rice milling and husk-based power plants is quite large. Bihar is the largest market for milled rice and the current milling capacity in the state is not enough to meet the demand. There is a thriving milling industry in Rohtas, Buxar, Kaimur, Aurangabad and Bhojpur areas. Bihar also provides enough scope for Maize based industries in terms of starch, poultry feed, corn oil, flakes and flour units. Khagaria, Madhepura, Katihar, Purnea, Saharsa and Begusarai are the main maize producing districts in the state. Winter/ Rabi maize is unique to the state and its production is increasing day by day, due to low risks involved and easy market with assured remunerative price. The state is a major supplier to the maize based industries located in northern and eastern India.

On the Horticulture fronts too, it is holding a legion de honour position. Bihar produces 75% of the litchi in the country with production area well connected by road and rail. There is about 10 lakhs MT production of banana in Vaishali and Bhagalpur region, 20,000 MT of Makhana is produced in Darbhanga, Madhubani, Purnea, Katihar and other lying areas of state, apart from other unique products.

Bihar government has decided to develop two integrated food zones and food parks and would setup 100 Rural Agribusiness centres, develop Rice, Makhana & Maize cluster, develops fish, poultry and meat sector and at the same time would set up a nodal Quality Assurance and Product Development Centre.

It is more than the scores of incumbent state governmental enabling policies, undertaken to create investment friendly environment in Bihar. There are many stories of applause for the Nitish Govt., few among them are; Industrial Incentive Policy 2006, abolishment of APMC Act and Bihar Single Window clearance Act 2006. The efforts needs well appreciation for the steps taken for the development of food processing in Bihar.

Private sector must invest and participate pro-actively in Bihar’s food-processing industry to take it longer and at sustainable levels. The private sector must take advantage of the business-friendly climate offered by the Bihar government and invest in the state, especially in the food processing industry. In this connection, Industry associations like Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and FICCI joined the cause with the organization of roadshows in Mumbai and Bangalore to encourage private sector investment in the state. Bihar offers immense potential for investment and there is a need for industry to participate wholeheartedly in the economic development of the state. The entrepreneurs at the same time need to look at new and better business opportunities, adding that the state has the most fertile soil in the country and ample water resources to encourage agricultural growth. With pro-active government intervention, Bihar has witnessed an improvement in infrastructure facilities, assuring sustained growth in the state for private investors in various fields and particularly in food processing.

Identifying the need for food safety and quality, the Ministry of Food Processing Industry, GOI, has earmarked Rs 250 crore towards the sector under the 11th Five-Year Plan. Food Processing and Agri Business that the country is short by 10 million tonnes of cold storage capacity due to which about 30- 40% of agricultural produce goes waste every year., against a requirement of over 31 million tonnes of cold storage, India has a capacity of nearly 21.7 million tonnes, leading to a loss of about 40% of the agri-produce post harvest. Cold storage facilities now available are mostly for single commodity like potato, orange, apple, grapes, pomegranate and flowers, resulting in poor capacity utilisation.

The availability of easy credit was the biggest road block to the development of the industry. While income from the agriculture sector had grown from Rs 9,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore in the past few years, the effective level of credit has been stagnant. The proper management of land, irrigation, seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, storage and credit are the seven areas which should be worked upon to bring about a change in the agriculture sector and you guys are the ones who can do it.

Three major points of potential, policy and environment, makes Bihar an attractive investment destination. Despite the fact that Bihar is a fertile state complete with skilled and cheap labour, what is most important in today’s date is the right pricing of the agricultural produce for which food-processing industry needs to play an active role.

There is ample scope for a fruitful partnership between private investors and the Bihar Govt, which can ensure better returns. The Government has formulated a liberal industrial policy for the potential investors in the food processing industry; the policy kitty has been made further more attractive taking the state forward in the league compared to other regions. Under this liberal industrial policy of Bihar, any potential investor in the food processing industry can avail the facilities already in place under the Bihar Industrial Policy, 2006, like 80% VAT reimbursement, 50% capital subsidy in the sphere of captive power generation, etc, coupled with added advantages like 40% capital subsidy and an absolute no bar or objection on behalf of the state government on any subsidy or facility what the investor wants to avail from the central government.

The Planning Commission has however, laid down a growth target of at least 4% for this sector in the 11th Five Year Plan as against the achieved growth rate of 2% in the 10th Plan. And within India, Bihar is such a state that has got a fertile land capable of multi-cropping and a set of skilled and cheap labour, where agriculture and agro-based industries can thrive to their capacity. It is fast coming up as the most sought after destination for the food processing industry in the eastern part of the nation.

Agri-business for rural India can do what Information Technology has done for urban India. The state should be promoted as the food factory of the world in terms of both production and marketing. The biggest factor in Bihar’s favour in the food market is that of a low-cost advantage and the most suitable agro-geographic conditions. Therefore, Agri-business could become the safest bet for Bihar, and can thus pave the sure way to progress in the food processing industry.

IARI proposes 900 pc fee hike, amidst the students protest

Students of the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi seem to be in utter shock. The institute, which has not seen a fee hike since 1998, now proposes to change the fee structure for research and postgraduate students by 900 per cent (almost 12 times) hike which is no where comparable to the fees of even the other premier technical institutions, like IITs, NITs etc. Over that students staged a silent protest at the Pusa campus for the second day on Thursday to voice their opposition to the revision in the fee structure for MSc and PhD courses. IARI is one of the premier research institute among the four deemed universities of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the fee revision has been done only for the deemed institutes.
The fees which were about Rs.6,200 per annum, inclusive of hostel, electricity and tuition fees, have steeply gone up to Rs.72,000. While Rs.40, 000 is tuition fees, students will have to annually shell out Rs.16, 000 for hostel accommodation and Rs.6,000 for electricity. The revised fee structure was reportedly recommended at a meeting of the Co-ordination Committee for ICAR Deemed Universities on March 9. With this hike IARI will become the costliest Institute to study the farm sciences after PAU, Ludhiana and TNAU, Coimbatore. IARI provides fellowships of Rs 10,500 for Doctorate / PhD Scholars and Rs 8,640 for the MSc Students, inclusive of all the living and research expenses. The fee hike will be implemented from the new academic session beginning August 8.
Though the administration claims the hike is still under consideration, the students’ body representatives, who organised a silent protest and boycotted classes on Thursday, claim the new fee structure has been approved and implemented. Protesting in front of the director’s office, the postgraduate and research students said their annual fees has been increased from Rs 7,200 to over Rs 62,000. “The director communicated the decision of the new fee structure to us. We even saw the official communication which stated the fee for postgraduate students as Rs 62,000 and research students as Rs 72,000 per annum,” President of Post Graduate School Students Union (PGSSU), IARI, Mr. Sandeep Kumar said.
The students claimed while the fee structure at other Deemed University, Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) and Central Institute of Fishery Education (CIFE) has also been revised, their hikes are far more reasonable.
A letter written to Union Minister of Agriculture by the All India Federation of Agricultural Associations states: “The quantum of fees proposed to be charged is almost double the fees charged by the IITs. It appears that the enhancement of fees has been done taking into consideration the fees being charged by the private engineering and management institutions.” The letter goes on to say that job opportunities and salaries for engineering and management students are far more and that no other institutions and universities offering courses in agricultural sciences had raised their fees. Many students who are from poor and rural backgrounds too would be impacted. The increase might grant leverage to “other institutions and universities throughout the country to increase the fees”.
The students have threatened to intensify protests if the hike is not “rationalised”. “We registered our protest in a silent manner. Tomorrow, we will meet the director-general and Agriculture ministry officials,” said Kumar.
PG School Dean and Joint Director, Education, H S Gaur countered that the revised fee structure has been sent back to the government for reconsideration. “The fee at IARI has not been hiked since 1998, though fellowships and other student benefits were revised. The decision to revise the fee has been taken by a council headed by the Union Agriculture Secretary. We have no say in the matter, but we will initiate talks with the officials concerned as well as with the students,” said Gaur.

Monsoon Theatrics

The scene hasn’t been any different from earlier days when one used to describe Indian agriculture as a “gamble with Monsoon”. Even after more than the six decades of independence, we have not made any remarkable achievements in terms of increasing the cultivated area under irrigation.

And the statistics and hypes presented by the Govt. and the concerned ministries seems far from the harsh reality as still more than 60% cultivated area depends on the direct mercy of “Monsoon”, which often used to betray the faith of the farmers and sometimes give a hard angle to their lives.

Monsoon is a highly variable phenomenon, in terms of temporal and spatial difficulties. It is affected by the flow of ocean currents like, El nino and La nina and mostly drifts away alongwith. Meteorological department is also not able to forecast anything substantial about its movement and keeps on guessing its revival, even at the end of July, when almost more than one month period of monsoon has elapsed. Ministry and government runs by the statistics given by Met Dept and projects (im)possible outcomes for the farm production. This season too ministry is in much relaxed mood and is more concentrated towards the storage side, after much hue & cry.

We Indians are die hard optimists and have tonnes of perseverance to keep on waiting for the monsoon to set for taking up the agricultural operations. Not only this applies to farm operations, but it extends even to social obligations and familiar rituals.

Virtually all the expectations of a bountiful agricultural production hinges on the edge of good, sufficient, well distributed rains. Every year govt. promises economic growth and boom only on account of a successful Monsoon and if the rain fails then all the hell will break loose in this sector, everyone from PM, Finance Minister, RBI to Planning Commission will blame the poor performer, farm sector. But do they ponder, what plagues the scene? Do they see the bigger picture that till now we were not able to extend irrigation facilities beyond the green revolution belts? South India and the Western parts are the worst hit and the Eastern counterparts least uses the subsurface sources and are highly dependent on the groundwater resources, which is depleting at unprecedented level.

Till date rainfall had been deficient in parts of Uttar Pradesh, many places in Bihar and Jharkhand and some eastern region, but the Meteorological Department is still optimistic about the total rainfall. Government is confident of its projected farm output even in the case of weak or almost failed monsoon showers in contrast to forecast of good rains by Met Dept which claims that the late rains will not significantly hurt the total output. On the other hand, Flood raged fury in the many parts of the green revolution belts of Punjab and Haryan, not due to rains but by the breach in the Sutluj-Yamuna canal. Many districts have been affected and considerable fear persists that it may lower the rice output and hurt the govt’s projected figures.

During these long years, not a major irrigation project has started, except the Sardar Sarovar. Irrigation projects can be extended wherever possible with due consideration of social, environmental, economic issues and with local people’s involvement. A technological exchange programme with several agriculturally advanced countries in tackling irrigation problems can go a long way especially in the event of Climate change and global warming.

Approaches like, Micro-irrigation, rainfed area based appropriate technologies and schemes should be focused on the neglected dry tracts, which is not less than two third of the total arable holdings. Farmers should be trained and exposed to the rain-fed technologies and promotion and demonstration of contingencies measures and agriculture insurance provisions for the prone regions will surely make the scene better. Breeding seeds for better abiotic resistance, particularly the water deficient and inundated conditions has to be promoted in the network of research institutions and Universities, which can be helpful towards sustaining the production in the years to come in the view of climate change and monsoon drift. Frontier technologies like biotechnology, nanotechnology, water management and all other possible interventions can be utilized to fight the situation of insecurity so that the dependence on the vagaries of the Monsoon can be reduced to the extent possible.

On the policy side, it is astonishing that National Rainfed Area Authority budget is less than the budget allotted for the Bundelkhand area dryland authority, which is proposed in the last budget. So political gimmicks and lip service is not going to serve the cause of the masses anymore, and a bold initiative is urgently awaited for ushering the second green revolution, which can only be ensured in these neglected dry tracts.

Pawar play !

Sharad Pawar’s request to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reduce his workload as he wants to devote time to party work and other duties is well timed, and should be welcomed. As still the country if under the intense heat of almost never ending food inflation and above that instances of food mismanagement by the FCI authorities coming to light exposes how much responsibilities he bears single handedly. Mr. Pawar holds additional charge of the food and consumer affairs and the public distribution departments. Mr Pawar, recently assumed charge as President of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Pawar, a former BCCI president and recently been elected as the president of International cricket body, has been criticized for giving more time to cricket than his ministry, which has resulted in mismanagement on the food front and spiraling prices. Food inflation is perhaps the most serious challenge facing the UPA government in its second term, and Sharad Pawar hasn’t really risen to meet the challenge. Now that he has been burdened with the additional responsibility of ICC, it is obvious that Pawar will have even less time to attend to managing food shortages and tackle the menace of inflation.

It may not even entirely be his fault as an individual minister it is a difficult task managing multiple and often conflicting objectives of all the ministries he presides over agriculture, food, civil supplies and consumer affairs. It does seem unreasonable to expect a single minister to deliver reform on agricultural production and food distribution while keeping consumer interests in mind, all at the same time.

It was without doubt a mistake to hand all of these departments to one minister. Now is the time to rectify that costly mistake and separate at least food and civil supplies from the ministry of agriculture. But while that may end certain obvious conflicts of interest—one important conflict is that the agriculture ministry wants maximum return for farmers while the food ministry wants to procure at cheapest price to distribute to consumer, it will not solve the problems of the agriculture and food economy.

It is long overdue to bifurcate or, trifurcate the mammoth ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer affairs and Public Distribution. Many of the earlier reports recommended for the same for its efficient functioning and better redressal of the causes of the beneficiaries.

When Rural Development Ministry can have 3-4 Minister of States, they why not thought be spared of first bifurcating the Ministry itself, then further trifurcate the departmental responsibilities to individual MoS, on the lines of Ministry of RD. This will surely improve the efficiency, reduce the existing babudom and reduce the timelag in the projects/schemes and its further implementation.

Earlier also as per Mr Pawar, he has asked for three ministers but has been given only one. The request to be relieved of some of his considerable ministerial duties may be a crucial window of opportunity for the government to push-start a reform agenda in agriculture and food sector, which is long overdue. Any lackadaisical attitude of government and PM can prove to harm the food production and food security system of the nation. So the incumbent government might take the Food and Civil Supplies Ministry away from Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

Alongside the government will have to press Pawar to undertake massive long overdue farm reforms, either it is seed bill, pesticide bill, land reforms, ICAR revamp, sugar and fertilizer sector liberalization etc. In the ministry of food, there is a need for the government to reform the moribund FCI, which presides over much leakage and waste. There is also a need to rethink the ineffective public distribution system. A division of responsibilities and change of personnel may put some wind behind these reform measures but the government will still have to show plenty of political will to get the reform through.

So from the Congress leadership it is expected to kickstart discussions on a Cabinet reshuffle soon and Mr Pawar is supposed to retain the agriculture ministry, will have to be compensated with an additional department. Over this the Congress leadership is yet to hold formal talks with alliance partners on the reshuffle plan and some other players like, RLD’s Ajit Singh are keen to join UPA. In the event of Congress deciding on accommodating Mr Ajit Singh, it will have to find a weighty portfolio for the new entrant.

Lastly, it is to the government to feel the due responsibilities and take appropriate decisions so that no work gets affected, and what is best in the interest of the large section of the farming community.

Politicians drama put People and Nation at loss

Idiotic politicians are nothing to offer and never bother about the Unstoppable price rise, which a common Indian is facing since last 2 yrs. Are they sleeping since last 2 years? Declaring a strike over the issue, they have done nothing good but a huge loss of a full working day that too Monday for a major section depending on daily earnings and it’s a complete hands to mouth for them. But is the govt given any thought to the private sector employees, business people and workers engaged in un-organized sector for their livelihood and always at receiving end for the sins that they have elected you to be nuisance to the society. This population constitutes a bulk and almost many of the times of the sarkari babus and so called govt employees. Unlike this corrupt league which amasses huge money coffins all the time and also ask for salary revisions, almost every year or two with the formation of newer pay commission. For this matter too the shameless Netas stands very much united without a single veto, irrespective of their party, region, ideology etc. So even after all these Why such a NAUTANKI on the streets with a much inconclusive battle???

Lets say bye bye to PAWAR !

Congrats Mr Pawar on taking over the reign of ICC and NOW it is We, the common Indian people, humbly request you to pls relinquish the seat of Minister of Agriculture, Food supply & Consumer Affairs- GOI to give more towards your area of concern i.e. cricket and leave the Indian agriculture and food situation to its despair. Even after your 7 years of stint at the development ministry your contribution is minuscule and you always tried to milk the ministry for your own personal gains. "ICAR" has become the DEN of corrupt and inefficient people and "Krishi Bhawan" keeps on only the promises from the Sugar SAP to the issue of food inflation and the ensuing droughts and floods. Who does not know that you are paid handsomely by the Monsanto and many other Corporations for favour. But don't let the water go through the heads, otherwise you have to face the ire of the people on the every street, as witnessed in case of Bt conundrum, the only need is some JAIRAM.