Sreelatha Menon has made a good summary of some of the points I made in a conversation with her on the agricultural scenario (“A second Green Revolution will never happen”, March 13). She has accurately presented my views on several matters. However, there are two serious errors which need correction. First, while writing about my view that we should be conscious of the impact on employment through replacement of numerous small retail enterprises with megamarts, the name of Montek Singh Ahluwalia has been mentioned. This is unfortunate since I did not mention any name. Similarly, the appointment of Ashok Gulati as Chairman of the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices as an error of judgement has been attributed to me. This was never discussed and I have high regard for Dr Gulati, who is an internationally renowned agricultural economist.
M S Swaminathan, New Delhi
The correspondent replies: The interview as published is exactly what Dr Swaminathan told me on record when I met him at his residence. Nothing has been added by me. Much more was, in fact, said on record which was not published due to space constraints.
Readers should write to:
The Editor, Business Standard,
Nehru House,
4, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi 110 002,
Fax: (011) 23720201;
letters@bsmail.in