It
is a shot in the arm for the central government that
immediately after the Prime Minister's defense of
the relief package in the parliament, the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) on March 6, 2008 extended its
support to the government in implementing the scheme
that will strengthen the banking system rather than
weaken it. The support by the RBI should be an eye
opener for those commentators who are hell-bent to
oppose this mega scheme. In the present article, the
author focuses on the merits of the scheme.
Right
from the dawn of the independence on August 15, 1947,
the country has been suffering from food scarcity
and famine was looming large. The country was pushed
into a `Ship to mouth Economy' where it had to rely
on the external supply for the basic food requirement.
It was in this milieu, the then Prime Minister said,
"Every thing else can wait but not agriculture."
During 1960s, the country witnessed green revolution
and it moved from food scarcity to food security and
then to food surplus. But the benefits could not reach
the small and marginal farmers, tenant cultivators,
oral lessees. At the same time, the dry and rain fed
areas were deprived of the benefits.
A
study of the effect of the green revolution on small
and marginal farmers in Tamil Nadu reveals that large
size farmers have gained more when compared to small
farmers. At the same time, the weaker sections are
not benefited by the new technology. The plight of
the weaker sections in Punjab is not very bad as the
small size farmers are able to get supplementary occupations
unlike their counterparts inBihar, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (BIMARU) states who suffer
the most. The beneficiaries of the new technology
ranged from farmers owning 5 to 10 acres and 15 to
20 acres of land who grow crops in rotation and who
make adequate investments on new inputs for substantial
gains. |
