Largesse too little
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| KANCHI KOHLI, MANJU MENON |
Ministers of the United Progressive Alliance government are often heard mouthing platitudes about inclusive growth. On the face of it, inclusive growth seems a democratic ideal. But platitudes aside, what does the ideal really translate into for farmers, fishworkers and tribals? It means having to face the adverse consequences of India's galloping economic growth. Finance Minister P Chidambaram put forth the government's perspective quite succinctly while concluding his speech for the Union Budget 2008-9. He said: "We must produce wealth, and then divide it equitably. How can we have a welfare state without wealth?' But do such linear solutions work? Not really, going by recent experience. Consider the move to waive farmers' loans. It might help the ruling coalition secure a few seats in the coming general elections.But will loan waiver address fundamental issues related to agrarian discontent in the country? Will it quell the discontent brought about by land acquisition for special economic zones (
sezs)?
Shining India's orphans Small and marginal farmers undoubtedly need succour. However, the Rs 60, 000 crore loan waiver will not get anywhere close to reviving their spirit. The budget has reiterated the government's position that manufacturing and service sectors are priority and that agriculture does not have the ability to fuel the growth rate to dizzying levels. But farmers don't necessarily buy this viewpoint and there is simmering discontent. At a meeting on
sezs in Delhi, a day before the budget was presented, farmers from Raigad in Orissa stated that they saw no reason to give up on farming, no matter what macro economists believed about the
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