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No. 4 Dated 04.02.2008

A NEW CAMPAIGN!

In pursuance with the Expenditure Reforms Commission (ERC) =
recommendations Government is closing down 12 'Save Grain Campaign' =
(SCG) offices located at Chandigarh, Ghaziabad, Guwahati, Bangalore, =
Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Lucknow and Pune will be converted into Quality =
Control Cells (QCCs) from the next month. Along with the above, the =
Indian Grain Management Research Institute (IGMRI), Jorhat too is being =
closed down. It may also be recalled that two IGMRIs at Jabalpur and =
Udaipur have already been closed down way back in 2005. So, 13 =
functional units are being closed down this month and out of them 5 QCCs =
will become operational from 1 March 2008 in addition to the 3 existing =
QCCsfunctioning at Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad. This step certainly =
affects a number of employees who may be displaced; they will be =
thoughtlessly accommodated somewhere for the timebeing and face =
stagnation, retrenchment and all the evils that the globalization =
threatens to bring to India. The issues involved, however, do not stop =
at that point. They are much bigger than what appears. Saving grain and =
regulating its quality are two different tasks and have only a remote =
relationship between them; a scientifically evolved grain variety may =
have such qualities as to make it easier to 'save' but that is a part of =
agricultural research. It is a qualitative aspect and not the =
quantitative one which brings us into the area of storage technologies =
and spreading awareness about it. Do we not need to save the bulk of the =
grain produced in our country? There are traditional as well as modern =
methods that help store grain for years. Our grandmothers knew such =
methods and our farmers too use different methods to store their =
agricultural produce. One such methods is, storing in metal bins for =
which government gave subsidies to farmers who purchased such bins. Now, =
with the closure of SGC offices farmers will not get subsidies which =
means they will have to put more money to procure the same bins. ERC =
recommendations are, therefore, going to have a direct impact, =
especially, on small and marginal farmers. The question is: What kind of =
criteria were used by ERC while recommending the closure of so many SCG =
offices? One thing, either it thought that it was no longer necessary to =
save grain; or, it thought saving grain was not the job of a government. =
ERC should have come out with concrete logic that is in tune with =
socio-economic conditions prevailing in the country. We in India do need =
indigenously developed grain-storage technologies. What is the point in =
closing down Grain Management Research Institutes? Of course, we cannot =
blame our dear poor government for such decisions; who knows, it may =
well be under pressure to accommodate MNCs in this field! In any case, =
it is never advisable to cut your legs to reduce your weight. However, =
if you go to some ERC-inspired doctor he may advise you to do precisely =
that!