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Journalism of Courage
Given that agricultural growth is the buzzword in the government and the subject of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh8217;s personal attention, it isn8217;t surprising that the Agriculture Ministry has zeroed in on a strategy to effect a quick, short-term revamp of the sector. In an effort to overhaul the agricultural extension system in two-three years, it has decided to offer greater role to private and non-government extension services. The final shape of the revamped agricultural extension system will be presented to the NDC meeting on agriculture on May 29.
Under this arrangement, the private sector will be invited to compete with the existing government extension systems for its resources to lend support to farmers in each agro-climatic region. So the private players can enter into MoUs with state governments, which will work on a cost-sharing basis depending on the services provided by the private partners.
Considering the current vacancies in agricultural staff in states, the first option would have required the government to fill up and create 90,000-170,000 additional government extension staff members at the block and village level. This would have meant huge financial implications. The second option, with government support only at the cutting-edge level, would have required hiring 10,000 technical staff members and consultants at state and district levels, incurring a recurring expenditure in addition to the fixed cost of about Rs 170 crore every year.
As opposed to these, the third option provides great flexibility for private partners to engage with government in each region on a cost-sharing basis, where the best practices are now being employed by private entities like ITC8217;s e-choupal. But the government will always be there to provide extension services in areas where it finds no private partner.
While the prime minister has called for effective strategies to deal with agricultural crisis, at the field level about one-fourth of the agricultural support staff positions are lying vacant. Worse, in states with good agricultural potential8212;Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa8212;the staff vacancies surpass the national average of agricultural staff vacancies.
As against the national average of 23 per cent, about 92 per cent of the agricultural staff positions are lying vacant in Bihar, which has tremendous agricultural potential owing to its good soil and water resources. Similarly, among other states, about 65 per cent of agricultural staff positions in Jharkhand, more than 51 per cent in Orissa, 34 per cent in West Bengal, and about 30 per cent agricultural staff positions in Uttar Pradesh are lying vacant.
In the backdrop of the 11th Plan aiming at over 4 per cent growth in agriculture for a 9-10 per cent GDP growth, these alarming vacancies pose serious doubts about the success of future agricultural strategies. A Planning Commission estimate says that there exists a huge productivity gap in about 15 million hectares in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, WB, and MP. It also estimates that there is a potential to increase the productivity in these regions by an additional half tonne per hectare. This would mean an additional 7.5 million tonnes of foodgrain from this region that would go a long way in augmenting the food availability in the country.
However, this would require an extensive agricultural support staff to bring about these production levels in these regions. But the alarming level of vacancies in the major eastern states is going to be a cause for serious concern.
Hopefully, the new plan will help overcome the shortage of extension staff and make a 4 per cent agricultural growth a reality.
Quickest route to revamp
Of the three options, the government has zeroed in on the third one for revamping extension system as it offers lesser financial burden and greater flexibility of operation.
Option A: Substantial increase in number of government extension workers.
Option B: Substantial role for government extension workers and a minor role for private and non-government sectors.
Option C: Greater role for private and non-government extension services. The government participation will be on a cost-sharing basis depending on the extent of services provided by the private partners.
