Old Guard Economics

Some of the most significant contributions to Indian economics have been made by non-economists. V M Dandekar, who wasn't formally trained as an economist, belonged to that generation of academicians who were not limited by the confines of their specialisation. Even though he was primarily a teacher and an academician, he made significant contributions to policy-making, both directly and indirectly. Being involved with the setting up of a comprehensive database on the economy, he provided the policy-makers with the data and statistics "bricks and mortar" with which the edifice of policy-making is built.

In addition to this, he was, like many of his contemporaries, an institution builder. The Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics and the Indian School of Political Economy owe a lot to him. And if this wasn't enough, he was also a committed activist who believed in putting his academic theories into practice. An example of this being the kitchens he helped set up in Pune to make high-protein chappatis. It is rare to find such a multifaceted professional.

 

These volumes are the first two of the proposed three volumes of selections from Dandekar's writing, spanning four and a half decades. But these are more than just a collection of old essays. Apart from doing an extensive cut and paste job, Dandekar has himself edited and updated the essays considerably. But he seems to have done this honestly enough, stopping short of using the benefits of hindsight. While in some ways this may be a loss, but on balance it has added to the relevance and readability of the essays even four decades after they were written.

The first volume deals with issues in Indian agriculture. Written in the early '50s, it is not surprising that most of the essays relate to institutions rather than production, productivity and technology in agriculture. The first essay is a critique of Schultz's book, Transforming Traditional Agriculture. Bearing the same name, the essay reflects the same spirit of classical development economics, but is an issue which is at best of historical interest now. Nevertheless, the essay's value lies in its method of enquiry which emphasises the Indian situation and the limited applicability of theories steeped in the Anglo-Saxon tradition.

The highlight of this volume is the essay on agricultural marketing. Even after 40 years perhaps especially after 40 years it needs to be read and mulled over. Here, Dandekar proposes a way to reorganise the foodgrain market so as to retain the essential elements of the market with a certain degree of social control. Similarly, the essay on agriculture credit questions the wisdom that an unviable activity can be made viable through subsidisation. The issue addressed in this essay is the provision of concessional credit.

For the contemporary reader, it is refreshing to learn how seriously government policies and their ideological basis were discussed. There is a degree of involvement in economic policy-making which is completely missing today. Also, much of the work was motivated mainly by its relevance to policy.

The first volume shows up Dandekar as a researcher who was influenced by the classical concerns of economists at least of Indian economists. The second volume reveals him to be a practical economist who used his formal training in statistics to analyse the most important issue: the growth of population.

Much of this work explores the ways in which population weighs down growth. The thesis here is that, underlying the two important issues of poverty and employment, is the high rate of growth of population. It is this that explains the apparently unconnected contents of the second volume on population, poverty and employment.

In some of the essays, like the one on education, Dandekar is shown up as being clearly ahead of his time. The essay on the National Sample Survey needs to be read by anyone who is interested in using this data for research. This volume also includes four essays on poverty which more or less overshadow his other work. His disillusionment with planning, it is clear, has set in quite early and two essays in this volume indicate this. The essays advocate institutional reform, with a focus on changing the entitlement and endowments of the poor. The overall conclusion that emerges is that a pluralist strategy of protecting commodities, through a well-laid out price regulatory mechanism and a focussed distribution system, is still relevant.

There are some essays which are outdated and not particularly relevant for the economics and economists of the current generation. But even these make interesting reading as they bring out the flair and flavour of the '50s and '60s which were very rich in the areas of economic policy-making and debates in economic theory.

In these volumes, Dandekar comes through not only as an academician, but at times as a technocrat and at others, as an activist. Notwithstanding this, there is a richness of detail and a commitment which is missing in many of today's writings. Those who knew Dandekar personally will be surprised to find that the standard polarities associated with him didn't at any stage cloud his judgement of issues and policies. Perhaps, these essays explain why he became the cynic that he was in later years.

The issues, at least during his lifetime, remained the same: institutional reform, investment in agriculture, planned investment in social securities, and generating employment. The basic argument in favour of judicious state intervention and social investments remains. But one cannot help feeling a sense of deja vu as far as the policy prescriptions are concerned.

In some sense, these two volumes can be read as the history of Indian economic thought. An interesting feature of the book is the range and diversity of opinion that it provides. There is a wealth of data which is difficult to get now and which can be utilised to study the dynamics of an economy in transition. The two volumes, especially the second one, have some anecdotal value as well.