Radical Roots

Raju's current job as head of the country's key agri-export agency is doubly tough because he has stepped into the shoes of the intensely high- profile Gokul Patnaik. But this bureaucrat from the Tamil Nadu cadre has had enough experience with grassroot reality to equip him for the post. Thirty-three-year-old Raju has had stints in the industry ministry, as additional commissioner of industries and commerce, and in Krishi Bhavan as deputy secretary.As far as agricultural exports are concerned, Raju likes to debunk several stock theories that have been doing the rounds. For instance, he believes that India's so-called large production base doesn't mean much to the processing industry because there is a problem in terms of supplying the right kind of raw materials. Second, Raju says, the multinationals who were supposed to enter India's agribusiness and radically alter it have made several strategic and tactical blunders and need to rethink their policies. Three, crucial to the performance of agro industries is the state of agriculture which Raju feels deserves more attention. The government on its own will not be able to provide the push through its limited extension services, and the processing industry must develop backward linkages with cultivators if it has to survive, he says. Contemporary technology influences people's food habits and this is still out of reach of the bulk of the population, says Raju. This is one of the many reasons for a poor domestic market for processed food. He points to his own routine as an example: he still carries his tiffin box to office like millions of other working people and at the end of the day his wife still has to cook an elaborate meal. That explains the progress of the domestic market for processed foods! he jokes.