Don't blame it on growth rate'

Manish Tewari: Food economy has to be managed better. - R.V. MOORTHY

Interview with Manish Tewari, Congress spokesperson.

CONGRESS spokesperson Manish Tewari, Lok Sabha member from Ludhiana, Punjab, says the real issues plaguing the country are inadequate and missing linkages between the people and the government and the demographic disaster that our huge population has become. Excerpts from an interview:

India's pursuit of a high GDP growth rate has resulted in inflationary pressure on the economy. The Approach Paper to the Twelfth Plan follows the same strategy. Don't you think a course correction was required at this stage?

The UPA government has adopted and pursued the paradigm of growth with equity, and that concept lies at the heart of planning for future as well. True, over the past few years we have seen high growth rates accompanied by high inflation, but we have to accept that one can't be sacrificed for the sake of the other. The solution lies in managing both with multiple interventions. Our high GDP growth rate made it possible for funds to become available for our social intervention programmes, which meant that the supply of money increased in the economy and gave people bigger purchasing power. This in turn fuelled inflation to an extent, but at the macro level we witnessed a positive change in consumption patterns, not only in urban but in rural areas.

The high inflation has had other reasons as well, fluctuating oil prices for one, which has had a multiplier effect on the economy at all levels. But the trick in managing both simultaneously would lie in managing our food economy better: enhancing food production and putting in place a better delivery mechanism to benefit the most vulnerable sections of society. If food inflation can be managed, overall inflationary pressure will reduce.

How come we have not seen any initiative in this regard?

I am not blaming any particular Ministry or person, but the fact remains that our food economy is extremely badly managed. The crucial linkages from the source to the end consumer simply do not exist. The required infrastructure, required systemic changes, are simply non-existent. It is unfortunate that with food inflation being so high, we do not have adequate storage for foodgrains, vegetables, and so on, which results in unnecessary losses. Our procurement system is archaic, our mandi system is just not adequate to deal with the demands of the day.

Why is it that the Food Corporation of India has seen no modernisation? Why is it that we cannot procure directly from the farmer and reach the goods directly to the people who need it? Why is it that we cannot eliminate the middleman? For example, tomato, which a farmer in Ludhiana sells at Rs.2.50 a kg, sells at Rs.35 a kg when it reaches you and me in Delhi. Why is it that we cannot reduce this huge gap between the price at the source and the one the end user pays? The only solution lies in managing our food economy better, and unless we do that no amount of planning or legislation is going to succeed. It is erroneous to just blame the high growth rate for high inflation. This argument is an easy escape route for those who are just not doing enough to set things right.

Do you think the proposed Food Security Bill will tackle the problem to some extent?

What would the Bill achieve if you do not have your delivery mechanism in place? When the distribution linkages are simply not there, how will any Bill for that matter help? The issue again is establishing linkages between the governments and the people, and the State governments will have to play a huge role in this.

The Plan paper talks about sustainable development. But how are we going to ensure that as our planning process has put tremendous pressure on resources land, water, power and forests?

The tragedy in our country is that even those institutions which are entrusted with planning for India's future do not even acknowledge, let alone discuss, the real problems facing the country. Sustainable development for whom? We have to acknowledge that resource-related problems are the result of our huge population problem.

It has become politically fashionable to refer to this problem as a demographic dividend', but in my opinion it has become a demographic disaster'. But at no stage of planning have we seen anyone talk about tackling this problem. Our population problem is the joker in the pack and unless we get a grip on this, no sustainable development can be possible.