Letters: Firm up farming

Even as Ajit Ranade makes a perfectly valid point that vibrant growth is a must and that animal spirits of businessmen play a significant role in creating this growth, he is hesitant to acknowledge the fact that “…the poor eating well is contributing to food inflation” (“Of animal spirits and proteins”,

March 2). Should we not be proud of the fact that India’s poor are eating better, even if it does contribute to food inflation? Ranade’s point that India has grown three times as many onions in the past decade only confirms this. The sad fact that the productivity per acre of most crops in India is around half the global average reinforces the need for urgently replicating such increases in agricultural productivity for every crop.

To make this superb Budget a grand success, we need two things. First, the current five to six times difference between what the farmer receives for his produce and what the consumer pays needs to be quickly reduced. As Pranab Mukherjee has pointed out, this has to be done mostly by the state governments.

Second, the various Union government agencies responsible for collecting revenue must use their improved I-T systems fully to lean gently on Indian businessmen and high net-worth individuals (so as to not seriously injure their exuberant animal spirits). This will make sure that the projected collections of the Union government are not only realised fully, but actually exceeded by a margin adequate to cover any extra expenditure that may arise from eventual improved spending by state governments on the many open-ended poverty alleviation schemes, starting with the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Alok Sarkar, Kolkata

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