Letters: Helping rural India

I was surprised to read the summary of the results of the latest National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data mentioned in Surinder Sud's column "Boost farm income, not production" (Farm View, December 30). It is not a good sign that, while on the one hand farm production and productivity have been increasing steadily, farm incomes have not risen at all over the past decade or so. This only means that income inequality has further increased in rural India. Sharp income inequality has inbuilt disincentives.

What concerns me is that the current government has not announced any policies for saving the small farmer, who has been following the path of "Make in India" for decades. India has excellent policy analysts who can help the government in designing policies for giving a due share to farmers. However, now that the Planning Commission has been summarily demoralised, I wonder if someone has the appetite to help the rural sector.

Chandrashekhar Ranade, Washington DC

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