A V Rajwade: World Cup economy

WORLD MONEY

Events such as those in Nandigram, among others, could ensure our new growth stint could also end in another fiasco.

A series of successive incidents in recent weeks leave me with a number of questions about the convictions of our political masters, and their ability and willingness to sell these to the people: the murder of a member of parliament and 52 policemen by the extreme Left in Chhattisgarh; Nandigram; the Planning Commission report showing a drop in poverty; and Rahul Gandhi's assertion about the Babri Masjid.

Post-Nandigram, the first event seems to have altogether disappeared from our political and media spectrum. Surely the murders were a horrible incident, creating major questions about internal stability? About the "softly, softly" approach of the Congress Party to the menace of naxalism? It does seem that violent, extreme left movements are gaining strength in a large number of districts. Given the scale of killings in the Chhattisgarh incident, one was hoping for some kind of serious response from the ruling coalition, beyond the routine trotting out of some numbers by the home ministry. It was absent.

As for Nandigram, if the BJP compared it to Jalianwala Bagh, the prime minister expressed the need for changes in the rehabilitation policy, and exhorted industry to invest more domestically. It would have been far more reassuring for the central government to have come out with a defence of industrialisation even while regretting the tragic killings in Nandigram; of the need for land if industrial investment is to take place; of the impossibility of removing rural poverty unless a very large number of people get sustenance and livelihood in non-agricultural operations. The fact is that without diversion of some land currently under agriculture to industry, growth in industrial employment will not be possible. Surely, the scale of such diversion is small? Surely, on a per acre basis, the direct and indirect employment potential of industry is far higher than agriculture? Surely, these points need to be better marketed to the masses? In the event, it was left to the CPI(M) alone to take a stand on the subject by asserting that "the emphasis on industrialisation will not be given up. The long years of deindustrialisation have to be reversed" (Prakash Karat, in an article as quoted in The Indian Express, March 24).

Again, the scale of the problem was left to be analysed by Nirupam Sen, West Bengal's Commerce and Industry Minister, who asserted, in an interview in this paper (March 23), that the area needed for industrialisation over the next five years is 100,000 acres, out of a total of 1.35 crore acres of agricultural land in West Bengal. In the same interview, Sen said that the 1,000 acres needed for the Tata Motors plant in Singur, was distributed amongst 13,000 landowners "" those who believe that the status quo for agricultural land is the best thing for the rural population are condemning them to perpetual poverty. And, if the situation is properly explained, the response is different "" near Pune, 1,900 hectares were offered for sale, when only 1,400 were needed, thanks not only to the price but to employment guarantees and the start of two ITIs, to train people for employment in SEZs. Given the extremely weak or non-existent effort to educate the people about the need for industrialisation, incidents like Nandigram could bring major industrial investments to a halt "" as it is, Orissa's mega steel plants have got bogged down in land issues. Are our political masters silent because they are afraid of being seen as pro-private sector investment?

The response to the poverty numbers published by the Planning Commission was equally disappointing. As Sunil Jain argued in this paper (March 26), "this success has no fathers". Surely, the protagonists of reform should have proclaimed the numbers as a measure of the success of economic reforms in reducing poverty? The non-response clearly disproved an old saying, namely that success has many parents, failures none. Or is there such a great vested interest in the perpetuation of poverty, that we are afraid of acknowledging any reductions?

The deafening silence of senior Congressmen to Rahul Gandhi's remark that the Babri Masjid would be standing today if a Gandhi were to have been in power at the material time, is also sad. Even after making allowances for the excesses of electoral rhetoric, the statement surely is insulting to senior party colleagues like Arjun Singh, Pranab Mukherjee and even the prime minister, who were, and remained, cabinet ministers at the time? Surely some protests should have been made against Gandhi's statement? Even the Communist Party of China has formally acknowledged that Mao was wrong 30 per cent of the times. But, obviously, members of The Family can do no wrong for our Congressmen.

The World Cup quest by the "best ever" team sent by India got derailed in short order; will lack of economic convictions and/or the inability to sell them, make our fast growth story equally short-lived? A weak stand on land for industrialisation is capable of doing so. It would not be the first time we snatch defeat from the jaws of victory "" ask our cricketers!

avrajwade@gmail.com