Off the Farmer, Buy the Farmer and Far the Farmer

 

 

 

 

 

             

 

 

 

The title may sound bit preposterous but describes best the people opposing new Farmer’s Act. It took us more than 70 years of Independence to discover that peasants are found only in Punjab .They are concentrated only in that part of India. No other region has ever produced any agricultural product other than Punjab and certainly not the farmers. Then, who produces it in the other parts of India ? The conundrum certainly qualifies for the “Discovery of India”. Thanks to Modi government again! Had he not taken the gumption on the farmers’ bill, which is enacted now, we would not have been enlightened.

  

For a section of society and politicians, who are at loggerheads with Modi for almost two decades, every initiative is against proletariat, pro-corporate, anti-Muslim and certainly which jeopardizes the Constitution of India. I throw down the gauntlet on the people to cite any other reason which does not fit under these criteria for this set of intellectuals. Surprisingly, these endangered species have support coming from the so-called liberals, drawing room opinion makers with “Grey Goose” vodka being sipped after cursing Modi, Lutyens’ Delhi and some international personalities with vested interest. For them, Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, emerged as a messiah of farmer’s cause in India. The so-called liberal media , leftists and opposition parties started quoting him without realizing it to be a blatant and brazen act of interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state in violation of the tenets of sovereignty as per the UN charter . India should raise its concern in United Nations through all available diplomatic means. It is no less than abetment to separatism in India . Time has come to put the foot down. Several questions were raised in the sections of Indian and Canadian media for not according the due respect and protocol to Mr.Trudeau during his visit some time back. He certainly did not deserve.

 There is a special quality of these liberalists. They feign to be self-proclaimed perfectionists mastering panacea to each problem that persists world-wide and derive the power from being anti-establishment. They resemble the spineless cocoons. Some of our friends would have never planted a pot but how can they resist the incessant obsession of standing against Mr. Modi in the name of farmers’ cause. He is the only Prime Minister of India who dared to change the politics of status quo, without contemplating the outcome in hustings.

 Then I come to the realization by the congress party of India that “Everything can wait but not the agriculture”- Jawaharlal Nehru quote by congress in its 2019 manifesto. What a confession! that too after around 60 years of their rule. In its manifesto, Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the one and only youth icon that India possesses, had promised exactly the same changes as implemented by the present government. Then why so much of brouhaha, from the congress ruled state of Punjab. Why farmers of other states including some being ruled by same congress are not protesting. Because there is a bigger design which Capt. Amrinder Singh also hinted after meeting Mr. Amit Shah few days back. So, has the protest orchestrated by congress against Modi government gone out of its hand ? Perhaps so.

 Merits of the Act-The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services Act, 2020 explicitly defines the rights and obligations of the farmer that no legislation has articulated. It addresses wide gamut of concerns. To start with, the act specifically prohibits lease, mortgage and transfer of title deeds of farm land. The act provides for the contract and transfer of produce and not the land. Initially, few miscreants tried to mislead the farmers citing it to be the nefarious design of Modi (not even the government) to transfer the land to big corporate, perhaps because of their experience and past record in Haryana and Rajasthan during the previous congress regimes.

  The farming agreement can be for a minimum of one crop season and maximum for five years. There is an interesting clause according to which if the price of the produce is likely to vary, such agreement shall compulsorily have a guaranteed price (fixed component) and a premium (variable component). Bereft of an iota of doubt, no one would have thought of the fixed and variable component in agriculture which  remains to be the sole domain of corporate world and pink papers. Going further, the onus of the quality checking before accepting delivery at farm gate rests with the sponsor failing which it is deemed to have been inspected. Coming to the issue of failed commitment, if the sponsor fails to honor its part, the farmer shall be compensated by one and half times of the contracted value. And if the farmer fails, it shall restrict to the cost incurred by sponsor as advance or input cost. The breach of contract on account of force majeure shall not hold the farmer guilty and liable. If this was not enough, the government has also made the provision to keep the contracted farm produce out of the ambit of Essential Services Act.

 The important and the only provision which is forcing them to take the entire Delhi,NCR and Western U.P. on ransom is the compulsion of trading of farm produce by the traders having PAN number issued by Income Tax Act,1961. There is an apprehension that these traders and brokers who make handsome money by cheating the farmers of the deserved price, would come under the tax net. 

Having dealt the intricacies of the Farmers’ Act, can the champions of democracy, supporters of free market and well-wishers of farmers explain why the farmer’s right to sell the produce in the best available market should be restricted? Why should they be deprived of their just rights? Is it not their birth right to sell the produce in the market attracting best price? Ridiculous, isn’t it!

When the liberals fail to reply logically, their siblings in the form of award winners emerge to return the accolades. But none of them returns the prize money along-with the interest of savings bank account for a number of years the public money utilized. At least, I have not witnessed any such award winner, if you have, please inform me at – 3vediprabhat@gmail.com.

 

SILLY POINT

Talking of banks, CASA plays the most important role in the business books. CASA is nothing but an acronym for “ Current Accounts and Savings Account”. Interestingly, the meaning of the word “CASA” in Urdu is the utensil in which a  "fakir" ( a Muslim ascetic) seeks alms.  Current account is used  for business transactions whereas savings account by individuals for  purposes other than business. Current account remains very volatile whereas savings accounts are not to that extent. “CASA“ is the bread and butter for any bank. They are low cost deposits to bank. More the CASA of the bank, less the lending rates for customers.  It is also the toughest business to generate for any bank although sounds like cracking a hollow paper ball. In doubt, please talk to any banker, frustration and plight will erupt in unimaginable ways, a  caveat .

Without delving much into the intricacies of low cost funds, let us observe an intriguing data which is self-explicit and  also open to individual interpretation based on political penchant.

The sum total of savings bank account deposits in the commercial banks (both Indian and Foreign ) in India was Rs.10,927 Crs in 1980-81. In other words, sum total of the money lying in all the savings bank accounts in India. The same increased to Rs.50501 Crs in 1990-91, Rs.222982 Crs in 2000-01 and Rs.137288 Crs in 2010-11 . In 2018-19 , as per the latest data available, the savings account deposit was  whooping Rs. 4031177 Crs .

Here comes an interesting comparison between the figures of 2015-16 and 2016-17 ( the year of demonetization). As compared to 2015-16, balance in savings bank accounts grew by Rs.8,57,039 Crs ( 33% ), one of the highest  since 1980. Where do these Rs 8.5 Lac crores came from ?

                                                                                                                                              ( Amount in Crs )

Source: RBI: Handbook of Statistics on Indian Economy 2018-19, Table 48

If that is not enough, let me corroborate the above hypothesis with another example i.e. increase in public provident fund receipts (PPF) for the year 2016-17.

                                                                                                                                                   (Amount in Crs)

Source: RBI: Handbook of Statistics on Indian Economy 2018-19, Table 1

The total receipts in 1980-81 was Rs.59 Crs, whereas in 2015-16 it rose to Rs.7791 Crs whereas the next year, the so-called year of currency bloodbath, the receipts ballooned to whooping Rs. 17,235 Crs, an increase of 121% . Is it not something bizarre that in savings bank deposit as well as  public provident fund (PPF) cash is accepted and the spurt is  highest in these two deposit avenues. Though these must not be construed as a yardstick to measure the pros or cons of demonetization.

                                                  

                                 

OPEN LETTER TO CONGRESS

Every election has a lesson for all political parties. But for congress, it is futile, considering their unwillingness to learn from a series of their past mistakes. The performance of  India's oldest political party in the festival and extravagance of elections  is a matter of  deep sense of anger, agony and trauma. Every occasion, congress assured introspection but willy-nilly they did not get time to contemplate the real reasons. But they should thank Mr. Modi for imposing lock-down which would have given them sufficient time to ponder over their consistent failures.

 

The party has gone through many roller-coasters in elections since independence, certainly not new for them! However, fortune is taking long time to change unlike earlier. The ignominious defeat few months back, rather surrender before a nascent political party in Delhi where congress ruled for 15 years was no less than shameful. In a tug of war between BJP and Congress, AAP got the walk-over as congress chose to play under AAP cap .

The party has gone from zenith to nadir. And in this free-fall, no one seems to be willing to put a net below, as if hara-kiri is inevitable. The entire party is in shambles. The sycophants forming the cabal have over-dominating clout which prevents any free and fare advice to the family that matters.

For any democracy to function with proper checks and balances, a strong opposition should co-exist. It was the absence of an opposition as a deterrent which culminated into the “Shah-Bano Case” which haunts the congress till day. And it will continue to do so as an epitome of minority appeasement. There are so many occurrences which remain inexplicable for congress, in fact inexcusable too. Can anyone deny that the number of constitutional amendments that occurred on the whims, fancies and adventurism of congress leadership was not on account of their thumping majority in both the houses and negligible opposition.

Coming back to the results of various elections, the relevance of Gandhi family is fading in tilting the swing in their favor. Congress got duck in Delhi poll results which they were sure of, but certainly did not deserve.  Despite making so much of brouhaha about unemployment, Shaheen Bagh, inflation, drop in GDP and lot more if the party failed miserably, the problem is somewhere else. Probably, it lies in the presentation and deliberation of their viewpoint. Time and again, they failed to make the public connect, perhaps because the inner coterie consists of the people without any grassroots level. The party has an army of spokesperson but not a single with a mass appeal to flash upon. One should not be an expert in rocket science to judge the quality of  spokespersons’ in the party. With all the due respect to them, they are highly unprofessional and lack inter-personal and communication skill to canvass the public opinion to their fold, one of their primary role.

Congress is also blessed with an army of ‘Jaichands’ ( the so-called traitor who helped Mohammed Ghori against Prithviraj Chauhan) in the form of Manishanker Ayyars’, Shashi Tharoors’, and many more. They are the classic examples of Frankenstein monster who destroyed its own creator.  The party was close to striking distance in Gujarat elections but they played the perfect spoiler as if were acting on behalf of their political adversary. There was absolutely no control on such errant and rogue elements who unleashed a salvo of vicious insinuations and innuendos against the Prime Minister. The kind of unrelated and sordid language used obviously suggests a theory that there is a lobby in the party which does not want Mr. Rahul Gandhi or any other member of the Gandhi family to succeed. I personally feel it to be true without any prejudice to anybody.

What next then? Firstly, they need to think out of box. Not only that, the box itself  needs to be new and innovative. The strategy needs redefinition on some issues bereft of any apprehension of loosing votes of a particular community. The misconception that protesting anything and everything against Mr.Modi would appease muslims should be allayed. The sooner this perception abates, the better it is. The election steering should rest on optimistic plank instead of being  individual centric, see how beautifully and quickly Mr. Kejriwal had learnt which paid  too. The leaders who are not even known by the people outside their mohallas (streets)  were also abusing Mr. Modi personally and publically which did not augur well. The party should pass on the diktat not to attack Mr. Modi personally. Remember the TV debates! The kind of statements made by their spokesperson characterized the manifestation of utter frustration and race to score their numbers before the Gandhi family. They did not had any locus standi what-so-ever, but  were so  vocal in derogatory manner which was not liked by the masses. The more they spoke, the more damage inflicted.

Secondly, the entire party needs to be run on the corporate model resembling a company launching a new product afresh with an unmatched USP and best sales force. Believe it or not, no leader at the national level has either grip of the public nerve or the courage to advise the high command the situation they are in. Presently, their is nothing for  Rahul Gandhi to boast upon. Neither has he the charisma nor the much needed oratory skill to turn the tables. Still, candid feedback by the political advisors could make the difference.

Finally, there is something called “National Security” which is sacrosanct and unquestionable.  The strike on Balakot was made mockery of by most of the leaders who do not even understand the basic difference between internal and external security. Some of them even tried to suggest that it was against the Muslims'. Nothing could be as ridiculous and atrocious as this! Had they praised the government without any “ifs & buts” it would have earned more respect in the society. These are some of the reasons that all the social engineering and maneuvering getting failed in every election. Regional political parties are making gains but not the congress.

To conclude, it is nothing new which is written that congress pundits do not know or understand. But someone needs to be vocal in the party to fine-tune their strategy. Serious contemplation would have certainly taken place among them, but even now if they choose not to act then they are certainly going to spoil the political future of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too. The real winner is not who sails with the wind but against it and emerges victorious.

Pakistan's Latest Embarrassment Or Opportunity

The latest report released by US department of defense, the largest government agency and perhaps the most important in the US administration has once again accused Pakistan of harboring terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. To quote “Pakistan continues to harbor the Taliban and associated militant groups in Pakistan, such as the Haqqani Network, which maintains the ability to conduct attacks against Afghan interests” unquote. The report apart from blaming it for abating terrorism in Afghanistan has emphasized on “associated militant groups in Pakistan”.

Any ordinary person would take it as a dent on the international image of the country. But not so in the case of our neighbor. Instigating and incriminating reports are raw materials for the nature of business they are in ! Instead of being crestfallen they would be cheering the report. As always, they again have an opportunity to beg the largesse feigning help to America in its resolve to  fight against terrorism. It holds even more importance, when the economy is on the verge of collapse rather collapsed. Cricketer turned politician is in such a state of trauma that he has started seeking the help of his cricketing eleven. Few days back Javed Miandad released a video, undoubtedly, at the behest of the Prime Minister of Pakistan requesting its nationals world-over to donate. More appalling was his understanding of the economy and debt-ridden status of his country. Ridiculously, he was selling the idea of debt retirement of billions of dollars by the doled out amount from Pakistanis around the world. Feel pity for the fellow Pakistanis.

As a Prime Minister, Mr.Imran Khan could never ensconce himself. He was never given the carte blanche by the men in uniform to take independent decisions. Even if he had, he does not command  the authority to crack a peace deal with India. Pakistan army has always scuttled and obliterated even the remotest possibility of sorting the inveterate issues in Jammu and Kashmir not directly but by proxy means which remains an open secret. The ignominious defeat in Bangladesh and the urge to wreak vengeance still haunts them.

Coming back to the US report, it’s like blessing in disguise for them. Another opportunity of extracting dollars has knocked their doors. On the pretext of assisting the super-power against  terror they can snatch their pie. The World has witnessed this during the US military operations in search of Osama Bin Laden. The devil was handed over to the special forces after the maximum juice was extracted from the sugarcane. They have fooled and blackmailed America number of times, the only act they are adept at. But every day is not sunday and they would do good to realize it on the backdrop of changing dynamics of world politics particularly in the post covid era.

State Vs Market

We are reformers in spring and summer; in Autumn and winter we stand by the old; reformers in the morning ,conservers at night.

                                                                                --R .W.Emerson,The Conservative.

More than a two decades  has passed after taking a dip into the global phenomena of LPG (liberalization, privatization & globalization), yet  the proponents of LPG seem to be muddle-headed about the end we are heading to. At this juncture, it becomes quite pertinent to raise the questions like– What was the purpose of initiating the reforms process?  Are we heading towards the outlined objectives even remotely? What were the result that were expected and how far have we been able to achieve them as of now? Reform is a wider concept,in fact, it’s an end to be achieved through different means. But in the recent past, their has been more emphasis in privatization. It would not be an exaggeration to say that an impression of “Made for Each Other” was created. Privatization has become sine qua non for reforms. For lack of proper understanding many consider both synonymous although they aren’t. There are many mini-navratnas which are performing exemplary even under the aegis of state.

There cannot be second opinion on the fact that economic reforms need to be carried out with even greater zeal, but does that mean mindless relay for privatization. Is selling –off the national assets at the throw-away prices the only panacea? The divestment of Modern Foods Ltd and Centaur Hotel in Mumbai are the fitting examples.

The credit must go to the electorate of the country which through the mandate of 2004 Lok Sabha elections compelled all the political parties to re-tune their privatization song. All of a sudden they have started singing the tunes of “ divestment with human face”. If we examine the economy and it’s compulsions bereft of any prejudice for privatization and also examine the gamut of decisions taken by the successive governments a question would arise– Can the state pull out and be a mute spectator to the market economy.1) The case of UTI-The government had to bail out Unit Trust of India, its flagship scheme US-64 to be more precise, twice, once in 1998 and secondly in 2002 by providing a package of around Rs.14000 crores, which beyond doubt was tax-payers money . That means bailing out the people by their own money for no fault of theirs. Accountability was fixed on Mr.Subramanianm who ignored the recommendation of Equity Research Cell(ERG) for not investing in the selected stocks .Yet the alleged involvement of PMO in getting the decision of the Chairman changed raises many questions .Unfortunately, like other scams it is also a part of history and forgotten  now. But the point to be emphasized is , the “State” had to intervene and at that point even the catholic proponents of market economy justified the bailing out citing reasons of social obligations of the government.2) The case of SAIL-Steel Authority was bailed out with a package of around Rs.5000 crores. And it continued to enjoy the status of Navaratna!. 3) The case of Global Trust Bank (GTB)-The case of bailing out of the GTB , a private sector bank by the government is most interesting. GTB was merged with the Oriental Bank of Commerce. Going through this example, can anyone say that the state could pull out from the economy. Here lies the state of confusion.On the one hand, even the profitable organizations were sold in the name of market economy, while on the other, it is also continuing to feed the non-profitable organizations in the name of social obligations and political compulsions. The case of “Indian Telephone Industry” is a classic example of running the public undertaking on oxygen because of political consideration.

If these examples are not enough for the people obsessed to compare Indian economy with those of the U.S and U.K. then here are few examples from  these developed  country’s too. After the 9/11 incident, the Federal government in order to help the airline industry gave around $5 billion in cash and went further to promise another $10 billion (in the form of loans) . Another incident which deserves mention is the imposition of 1000% import duty on Indian steel to protect its own steel industry in April 2001.

But here lies the difference in the mode of assistance extended between U.S. and India. U.S. came to rescue the entire airline and steel industry whereas we provided sanjivni(life) to selected corporations from their respective industries. Talking of U.K. the privatized railways had to be bailed out injecting taxpayers millions of pounds so that it remained on tracks.

There is absolutely no denying fact that we needed reforms and that too badly but for how long ‘the market or state’ conundrum would haunt us. The fundamental principle which needs to be understood is that the raison d’etre for the existence of the private sector in any part of the world is the profit motive, this it could neither abdicate nor jeopardize for the social obligations which is actually none of its business. Therefore time has come that we eject ourselves out of this yolk of dilemma of ‘market vs state’ by keeping in mind the perils of ‘marketisation’ which puts everything into black and white terms.