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Journalism of Courage
The tasks that the Finance Minister has outlined in the Budget speech, such as water harvesting, construction of houses for the rural houseless, desilting and repairs of water bodies, building of rural roads, agriculture input provisions, were performed by the community development blocks in the 50s and 60s.
For the information of younger readers, these blocks, headed by block development officers, had several extension officers in the field of agriculture, animal husbandry, minor irrigation etc. Village level workers called gramsevaks in some states, trained in rural extension training institutes, interacted regularly with the villagers, the focus being on provision of seeds, fertilisers, water supply and minor irrigation.
This had a fallout in that the block management structure and its integrative strategies fell into disarray. Centripetal departmental forces of different disciplines like primary education, animal husbandry and public health moved away from the block structure to separate hierarchies. Rigid, departmental structures with patron client relationships have replaced participative interactions.
The panchayati raj constitutional amendments sought to correct this by putting power and responsibility with representative local bodies; however, since departmental structures remained as before, the issue of delivery of programmes remained unaddressed. Thus, even if a panchayat wants to repair a water body, it has to turn to the minor irrigation department for preparation of estimates, selection of executor, and final payment. Even in the best of states, patronage and corruption rule: in the poorer states, there is no attempt to take up any work before expropriating the resources.
This is the structure which exists today. There are in theory, panchayati raj institutions, inadequately funded with little or no technical skills other than those available with state government departments. There is a lack of contact with the public and an absence of knowledge of the people8217;s needs. And, in several areas, there is poor governance, with little interest in delivery of development programmes. This is the structure, which has now to deliver the CMP. In management, we are taught that structure must follow strategy, not the other way round. It is the reverse here.
There are two ways to approach this problem. The first is, change the structure so that it is more in tune with today8217;s requirements. This is easier said than done. It is doubtful whether this government has the stomach to take on this battle. The other is to conceive of a working mechanism by which some, if not all of these intentions of government can be fulfilled. For one, the finance minister suggested the Amul model, but for the wrong reasons. The success of Amul is due to the fact that this value addition chain is best suited for India. Low technology production cows are milked the same way, but there is some upgraded stock, medium technology collections and processing pasteurisation plants are no high tech entities, and high technology marketing and distribution. It is the value addition in the last link, managed professionally by a cutting edge technology organisation that delivers value addition to the producer. That Amul is a co-operative federation is a structural red herring that the Finance Minister has swallowed 8211; you need a dynamic, single not multiple private sector organisational management expertise for the marketing and distribution part. At the collection standardisation level, one can experiment with private sector, co-operative, public sector etc., not at the final value delivery stage. This is the lesson being repeated in BRAC in Bangladesh, Sewa and Subhiksha privately managed; in Chennai.
How can we take this concept forward? Let us take an example from agriculture. Few are aware that West Bengal is emerging as a major producer of vegetables, oil seeds and other commercial crops. Small and marginal farmers have become very efficient producers. They lack the ability to reach the market. If the Government were to provide infrastructure in terms of rural roads, transport and a purchasing system which can pay fixed prices for standard products, and this is tied up with a large private marketer there are private initiatives already starting to happen, then we have a viable model. Delivery of the Green Revolution has been an unqualified success.
The structures were the agricultural universities, the seed production centres, extension agencies, and finally market support. This integrated model has worked for rice and wheat, and to a lesser degree, for sugarcane and oilseeds. Let us take the objective of transforming agricultural practices into value added goods- namely, commercialising agriculture.
What should be done? Let me end with prescriptions, which should be debated. There are several agro-climatic zones in the country, each suitable for some specific commercial product, be it spices, herbs, fruit, flower or vegetable. The research and extension agencies in each zone should be a assigned a agro climatic zone each, and develop techniques, inputs and farming practices for this product.
Next, extension. This means retraining the existing army of workers away from cereals. Use technology for extension8212;mobile phones, village level information booths linked to input providers, computer kiosks. Set up different models, depending on the zone and the product, collection centres, on the Amul model. Here there should be small processing/ preservation facilities. Guarantee product quality and quantity and bring in a private marketer and distributor. It will work. Indeed, it is working in a number of places, but these are isolated success islands.
It is possible to convert this into a national programme. We can be there within two to three years. There is a lot of value at the bottom of the pyramid.
The author is former Finance Secretary
