Forget banks, the reformers want to focus on the farmer

The last chapter of the mid-term appraisal is being personally authored by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the planning commission. Speaking to The Indian Express, he gave a hint of what is in store when he said: ‘‘It is not reforms in banking and increasing FDI in banks that is of crucial importance. It is addressing reforms in agriculture that will help attain sustainable growth.’’

He said that while huge sums of money are spent on various agricultural schemes, the lack of scientific and technical inputs sometimes nullified the effect. ‘‘For example, crores of rupees have been spent on desilting of ponds but silting takes place every season. Not enough attention is paid to creating permanent solutions like afforestation to preventing silting in the first place,’’ he added.

From now, there will be concrete proposals to find a long-term ‘‘outcome’’ to go with the government’s ‘‘outlays’’.

On corporate involvement, Ahluwalia said that if mangoes were being grown in an area, farmers needed to be advised on whether the quality should be suitable for juices, pickle or jams and exactly what the food processing industry needed. ‘‘That’s the kind of input we need to give them,’’ he said.

The mid-term appraisal will also give a roadmap on infrastructure and here ‘‘sweetheart deals the Dabhol way’’ will be ruled out.

Health and education, the other top priorities of the UPA government, have already been given attention in the Budget, but the Planning Commission will spell out ways to monitor the expenditure vis-a-vis the achievements.

‘‘On reforms, if we can achieve even 50 per cent of what we had set out to do, we would be happy. Less than that would be an area of worry,’’ Ahluwalia said.

‘‘But it is more crucial for us to see a proper monitoring system for physical achievements especially as we will have to justify the huge money spent on the social sectors,’’ he added.