An editorial on the Indian Union Budget 2008 written by me.

New Delhi: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced a Rs. 60,000 crore package for farmers in the Union Budget presented on Feb. 29. Marginal farmers with land holdings upto 1 hectare and small farmers with holdings of 1-2 hectares will have a complete waiver of their loans. Loans overdue upto December 31st, 2007 which have remained unpaid till Feb 29, 2007 will be covered under the package. Chidambaram has ignored the needs of the farmers with three or more hectares of land. Already by distinguishing between the marginal and small farmers the Finance Minister has stirred up a controversy, with farmers feeling the creamy layer (farmers with lesser land) among them is reaping all the benefits.

But waiving loans is not the solution to end the farmers’ crisis for good and it cannot continue for long. Besides this waiver does not apply to large number of farmers who have taken loans from private money lenders. The decision might end up attracting more farmers into the vicious cycle of ‘credit.’ According to government statistics the agricultural credit industry is worth Rs 2, 40, 000 crores in 2007-08. Hence the decision might just increase the profits of the bank at the loss of the farmers. On the other hand the budget does not provide any benefit to farmers who have paid off their loans on time.

A report by the Radhakrishnan panel on Debt in 1991 had stated several reasons opposing the waiver of loans. One of the reasons was around 51% of the country’s farmers do not have access to institutional credit. With the general elections scheduled for next year the Finance Minister has tried to appease the agrarian community. In reaction to the news PSU (Public Sector Undertaking) banks stocks dipped but recovered later. The banks will mostly be reimbursed by the government for their losses in the form of bonds and greater liquidity. However, Mr. Chidambaram did not specify the source of funding for this debt-waiver.

The Finance Minister hopes to finish implementing the relief package by June 30th of this year. But given the numerous paperwork involved, it’s unlikely that the farmers will be able to keep up with the deadlines. The agriculture sector saw a growth of 2.6% this year against last year’s 3.8%. Hence the Finance Minister’s prediction that the sector would row at 4% for the year 2008-2009 looks unlikely given the increasing rate of farmer suicides especially in Vidarbha.

Former Finance Minister and BJP Leader Yashwant Sinha termed the budget as a ‘disaster’ and criticised the relief package. Ironically On Jan. 10 at Wardha, Maharashtra a Kisan Sankalp Rath Yatra was organised by his party colleague Rajnath Singh. At the rally his party workers chanted slogans like “BJP in favour of farmer loans waiver.”

The budget does not talk much about the Public Distribution System except for the use of Smart Cards to distribute food on a trial basis in Haryana and Chandigarh. The Finance Minister also announced the allocation of Rs 31,549 crores for food subsidy under the scheme which will be used next year. The point is whether these funds will reach the needy people and not be pocketed by government officials.

Over the years, many schemes have been introduced by the government. It remains to be seen how much of these new schemes will see the light of the day.

(Vidarbha inputs by Swati Roy/Digantik)

Couple of weeks back I saw the Hindi movie Jodhaa Akbar. Directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar the movie talks about the romance between King Akbar a Muslim and his Hindu wife Jodha.

Many communities in India especially the Rajputs had objection to certain facts in the movie. Several controversies exist over the origins of Jodhaa and her being the wife of Akbar. Many religious groups in the country felt that the movie hurt their sentiments and called for a ‘ban’ on the movie.

 When the ban was not enforced, they resorted to physical violence. Theatres and halls screening the movie were vandalised, people were not allowed to see the movie. Thus in this process many harmless people got injured. Finally the Uttar Pradesh and couple of more states banned the movie.

I fail to understand why do people in our country have to resort to physical violence at the smallest of things? Its not the first time that certain people have had objections to a movie. Few years back when Deepa Mehta released her film ‘Fire’, it had to stop screening in theatres across Mumbai. The Shiv Sena termed that the film was against ‘Indian culture’ since it dealt with lesbianism.

If people have opposition to a movie, book they are free to voice their opinions in a peaceful manner. Our country is a democracy wherein everybody has a right to freedom of expression. Resorting to violence is not the solution. Such incidents only harm the reputation of our country.

 Because of the ban many film lovers have been denied an opportunity to see the movie. Hence, many of them will now rent out a pirated CD or DVD of the movie and catch it at home. Ultimately it is also the film producer’s loss.

Wonder when some people in our country will change?

An article written by me

Chennai: The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) will host the fourth Yi (Young Indians) National Summit on Feb. 15 and 16 in Chennai. This year’s theme is “Wake up India,” with a special focus on climate change and its risks which could derail India’s economic progress.

 The summit has been held from the past four years in different cities of the country with themes relevant to the country’s youth. According to the CII Chennai representative D. Thulasiraj, the youth wing is an independent subsidiary of the organization. The aim of Yi is to bring people together from across the country in the age group of 25-40 to play an active role in nation-building. Unlike CII, Yi has specific areas of interest such as education, environment, economy and healthcare.

Thulasiraj emphasized that his organization is unlike the Rotaract clubs. “We are not doing only social work, but are also involved in business activities, and try to make our members better individuals,” he said. Hence members visit companies, and learn more about their functioning by interacting with the officials. Yi encourages the members to come up with innovative ideas to do something for the society’s benefit.
 
 When it comes to membership, Yi does not have any fixed criteria except the age group of 25-40. The unit engages students from schools and colleges, thus forming ‘nets’ in each place. As members of the net, they pay a yearly amount of Rs 50, which is increased to Rs 3000 once they turn 25 years old.

 The speakers at the summit this year include Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer ICICI Bank Limited, K. V. Kamath and Nobel laureate, Dr. R. K. Pachauri.

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Micro-credit can change lives, originally uploaded by neharaghunath.

A womens accesory shop run by self-help groups in the weaving village of Ayyampet, Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India.