Disastrous Food Security

Food Security spells Insecurity for Farmers!

UPA-2 finally bought in its most favoured welfare scheme ensuring food security for more than half the Indian population. Though the food security of beneficiaries of this scheme is definitely uncertain but UPA-2 is implementing this scheme only to make sure it can gain political mileage by voter support because of the same. UPA-2 has failed on all fronts. It is desperate to come back to power and since it has nothing to how in its report card, Food Security Bill looks like its last resort. Those who oppose it will be named 'Anti poor' hence the opposition parties cannot openly oppose this scheme. And if they endorse it, the benefit goes to UPA-2! It is a kind of catch 22 situation for all opposition parties.

Let us make it clear that poor of the country must be taken care of. It is the social responsibility of all of us and of course of the government. But how do we do it is equally important.

With implementation of FSB, the government is planning to feed more than half the people with cheap grains. There are a few important factors to be considered for assessment of this gigantic scheme.

Identifying Beneficiaries

How government is going to identify the beneficiaries of this scheme? Whenever in the past it has left this job of identifying beneficiaries of any scheme to its employees, there has been only corruption. Even identifying freedom fighters was not above suspicion! Recently in Maharashtra, lakhs of duplicate beneficiaries of Niradhar Yojana were identified. The government machinery has pocketed thousands of crore rupees in the name of these spurious beneficiaries. Earlier, it was found that the government aided schools have about 25% students who do not exist but the schools keep getting grants for salaries of teachers for these non existing students! Now if the government is planning to rely on same old methods and machinery for implementation of FSB then one can easily understand that it will only give itself a new opportunity for corruption of gigantic scale!

Now if government adapts more scientific Aadhaar based technology co-relating it with data collected during census, we may have some scope of proper targeting. The biometric Aadhaar card makes sure that every individual is accounted for and can have only a unique number and identity it has a mechanism to eliminate duplicate or ghost entries. This time the census had recorded detailed information about houses, white goods in them, sources of income, sources of drinking water and so on. Now if this data is co-related with Aadhaar Id card, then we can have information about most of the Indians based on which, after deciding the criteria of selection, identifying the beneficiaries is a straight forward job. The whole process of census-Aadhaar is such that the responsibility of incorrect entries can be pinpointed to an individual who is responsible for it. Now if the mistakes are punished too, then there will be fewer mistakes in future. This takes care of targeting.

Modes of Delivery

How government is planning to deliver the benefits of FSB to its beneficiaries? Is an important question to consider. Now if it relies on its most inefficient and corrupt PDS then the scheme will only help the corrupt and corruption. Here again government must consider technology seriously. Making people buy grains from open market at prevailing rates and then compensating them for the subsidy amount through direct transfer of cash to their bank accounts seems to be a foolproof way of eliminating corruption. Though not all beneficiaries have bank accounts and also not all have Aadhaar cards but this is a hurdle that can be overcome easily if one is willing to. If the government machinery, which is trying its best to not to let Aadhaar cards reach people, is kept in check and Aadhaar issue is streamlined, more people can be issued Aadhaar cards in shorter time. And remember initially only the representative of a family needs to be given an Aadhaar card. Remaining members can be given the same in second phase. Making people buy grains from open market is the key to curb corruption as if the same commodity is priced at 2 levels in the same market, we end up in pilferage. We have seen this happening with kerosene and grains distributed through PDS. Also pricing same commodity at 2 levels is against open markets-free economy. Besides, the beneficiaries will have better choice to source its grains from any vendor who meets his requirements. This will also ensure that the beneficiaries get the grains of better quality.

Also the government machinery has no infrastructure to handle such huge amount of grains. Its procurement arm, FCI is also deep in corruption. As per an estimate of a senior bureaucrat Mr Arvind Virmani, the 'leakage and administrative expenses' of FCI were 40-55%! Now one cannot expect the same arm of government to procure if one does not want leakages or such huge 'administrative' expenses! Hence the procurement, transportation and distribution is best left to private traders. Considering the huge number of beneficiaries and possible monetory benefits, the private traders would be more than happy to participate. They only need to get Aadhaar card readers to verify the authenticity of beneficiaries. The costs involved are meagre and the benefit are huge.

The drawbacks of this scheme

• It will lead to corruption: As we have discussed above, if this scheme is implemented through existing machinery, it will be beneficial to the government machinery rather than 'aam janata' as it will lead to large scale corruption
• It will lead to higher fiscal deficit: The money being pumped in to FS is an investment into completely non productive cause. Hence the return on investment, if any, would be very low. Hence it is clear that the fiscal deficit will rise and economy will be weakened
• It will lead to increased labour costs for farmers: The MNREGS spelled doom for farmers. As every hand, that asked for it, got some work and daily wage. Not only this, many got paid, though less than what was on record, even for not working! At the same time, more than enough grains were available for less than a day's wage of a single man for the whole family to last for a month. This gave enough money in the hands of rural labourers making them reluctant to work. As a direct consequence of this the cost of wages shot up putting big hole in the pocket of farmers. Just consider that the labour charge for collecting cotton boles from cotton field was about 600/Qtl where as the cotton was sold at ` 3800- ` 4000 ! In other words the labour cost for just plucking cotton was nearly 15%. Now consider all costs for seed, fertilizer, insecticides, labour charges etc. The farmer could hardly recover the costs. Now FSB will increase the labour costs even further. It will take away the reason to work hard from labourers. As a common labourer is working to feed his family, now if gets an alternative then the core reason behind his hard working is taken away and he will be reluctant to work any more. This will be disastrous for farmers.

Does this mean that we ignore the poor and the hungry and the malnourished people of the country? No, certainly we should not. But handing out largesse is not the way for sure. Though this a subject of separate study in details for starters consider following.

• Government should make villages more 'liveable' by providing better schools, road connectivity, medical facilities and safe drinking water. This will ease the burden on cities as people are moving from rural areas to urban areas in search of better living options as the apathy of the government has turned villages into hell
• Government should either provide remunerative prices for farm produce so that farmer makes some money or get away from fixing MSP, procurement of farm produce etc. and leave it to private traders. In the present system, the government puts a lot of restrictions on farmers for sale of farm produce. This is a major reason behind poor state of farmers in our country. If government stops meddling and performs the role of a guardian, the farmer will be able to earn more. This in turn will make villages a better option for labourers who are flocking cities in search of work
• The welfare schemes must be implemented with complete accountability. The system should be such that the culprit must be easy to identify and the punishment must always be given to those who are responsible for any corruption/malpractices
• Poor people who send their kids to schools, who make use of public toilets, who get their kids vaccinated and who work on farm lands should be given incentives. This will ease the burden on cities and make labour available to farmers
• With better infrastructure and profitable agriculture, we can provide jobs to most of the people and this will add significantly to our GDP. Our population is an asset if all hands are given work. And apart from agriculture we do not have any other alternative that can do so.

A Journey to Haven and back

I recently went on a pilgrimage of Char-Dham. Yamunotri-Gangotri-Kedarnath-Badrinath. Though not in that sequence but I covered them all. The reason I am writing this blog is to make others aware of pitfalls on this circuit and share my experiences with others so that they can plan their Char-Dham tours better. This is a little elaborate account of my yatra. For tips and more information send me a mail to umrikar@gmail.com or call me on +91 9422646283 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +91 9422646283 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +91 9422646283 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +91 9422646283 end_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Link to more photographs

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I started with Badrinath. Lord Vishnu's abode. From Haridwar one has to take Rudraprayag-Karnapryag-Chamoli-Joshimath route for Badrinath. A little ahead of Joshimath, from Govindghat, the road diverts for Hemkund Sahib and Valley of flowers. Hemkund Sahib is an important pilgrimage for Sikhs. Road up to Govindghat is full of Sikh pilgrims and dangerous! Sikh youths on motorbikes fighting with locals and locals holding traffic to a standstill is a regular occurrence. Besides this zone is known for landslides. Therefore a normal 12 hour journey from Haridwar to Badrinath may take up to 18-24 hours.

At Rishikesh one has to get a 'Green card', a certificate of fitness of people and vehicle. It costs only Rs 500 officially but you will be forced to pay upwards of 1000 as a bribe to certifying authorities. This card helps you travel throughout Uttarakhand. I do not know if this 'Green card' is essential for private vehicles or not but for taxis, it is a must.

Badrinath is a crowded place. There are huge queues for darshan and it could be quite chaotic. Taking a bath at hot water kund is treacherous. One has to walk cautiously. When you get a darshan it is 'you-blink-and-you-miss-it' type of affair. You are constantly being pushed forward by security personnel and people behind you. Probably if you bribe right kind of people you may have your peace with God.

My next stop was at Gaurikund, nearly 12 hours journey. From Badrinath you go straight up to Chamoli. From Chamoli you take Gopeshwar-Ukhimath route. On this route there is a lovely hill station named Chopta. The road sees light traffic and is nearly lonely but too beautiful. We spent an hour at Chopta and wished to have spent more. There are lovely green hills and greener valleys. The mist and the rain and the sunlight play hide and seek on hills and in valleys and you see landscapes changing by the minute. The sounds you hear are that of birds only. This is a precursor to what you will be observing through rest of the pilgrimage!

Kedarnath is the place where Adi Shankaracharya took his samadhi after composing his famous 'Nirvana Shatakam'. As you go there and let the scene sink into your mind, you understand why he must have chosen that place for his samadhi. There are giant snow capped peaks of himalaya behind the temple. River Mandakini flows down the slopes of these mountains in the valley below. The valley is guarded by mountains on both the sides. You may see sheep grazing on green hills. They look like tiny white dots. There are numerous flowers in many colours on all sides. Then there are some exotic flowers too. This is heaven for all. For those who are spiritually inclined, for nature lovers, for botanists, for trekkers for walkers for anybody and everybody.

Gaurikund is the base camp for Kedarnath. Vehicles can come upto this point only. The road is too narrow and there is no parking available at Gaurikund. The vehicles take a brief stop here and drop passengers and go down to parking.

Gaurikund to Kedarnath is 14 Km trek. One can take a horse or a palanquin or walk. The weather and hence the scene changes by the minute. It is advisable to start early and go slow. The road up to Kedarnath is a narrow one. The horses climbing up are a little slow, obviously. But those that are coming down are fast. Beware of them. A little push and you may fall down! It is advisable to keep a stick in hand and 'show' it to horse so that it keeps a safe distance. Now if you directly raise your stick towards the horse, you may be in for trouble because the rider and horsewallah may not like it! Hence let the stick rest on ground and let it lean towards the horse as if you are taking support of it. Now this way, nobody doubts your intention and the horse gets the message!

As you walk up to Kedarnath, you see beauty all around you. Plants, flowers, peaks, valleys, cascading waters, nicely decorated horses, sculpted arms of palanquin bearers or little sweet girls like Rajnana! Everything is beautiful around here.

I saw Ranjana in a small tea stall by the road. I wanted to shoot a pic. She was too shy. She hid behind her brother. I requested him for her pic. He convinced her and she came out in open for me to shoot. I got this lovely snap. Can you imagine she has only one arm? She inspired me to keep walking!

The 14 Km walk takes about 8 hours for average people. Those who exercise regularly will find it more enjoying than those who do not exercise. As you feel tired, you come across some elderly lady walking barefoot or an old couple walking with each other's support or a kid enjoying on the back of a horse and you feel the urge to overcome your tiredness and keep going! The road is dotted with tea stalls that serve tea and refreshments and parathas and chholes and aloo subji and all sorts of aerated drinks.

As you go near the top, you are thoroughly tired. The last kilometre is the longest one! My wife, in fact, complained about the last kilometre being longer than 1000 meters! Finally you see the heaven! Green hills on left. Snow covered mountain in front and brown hills with snow capped peaks on right and a green valley with water rushing through it in the middle of all this. No words can explain what it looks like. One must see it through his own eyes.

I was lucky. As I reached Kedarnath it was late afternoon. I dropped my wife at the Ashram where I was staying for the night and came back to the bridge that connects Kedarnath with the road. I was waiting for my other companions. Suddenly somebody shouted behind me and asked me to look at the scene behind. I turned back. What I saw was not from this world. It was divine!

The golden rays of setting sun were falling on some parts of the peaks of Meru-Sumeru mountains behind Kedarnath temple. Snow, where sun rays were falling, was shining like gold. Rest of the scene was a mix of grey-white-black. There was a little mist covering the peaks for a few moments which cleared soon and the golden peaks were visible again. A stream of water was rushing down the slope through pebbles-stones and boulders making a sweet music. Rest of the world ceased to exist for me. I had focused on the peaks and the play of light on them through my camera. Me, my camera and the mountain in front, we became one. I could hear nothing. I could see nothing else. All my senses had become one. I became one with the scene. That was my darshan of Shiva. I was close to my nirvana, my moksha my mukti. It was bliss.

Like all good things in life it had an end too. This being the best, ended quickly too. As the sun set, the light on the peaks started to faint slowly and finally it vanished. The golden peaks became whitish-grey. I came back to this world form the bliss I had experienced.

Later in the evening, I went to temple. There I realised that the 'Shiv linga' worshipped at the temple is a replica of the peaks I had seen earlier!.

People are always worried (and they are force to worry by others) about lack of oxygen at Kedarnath. Yes one feels breathlessness if one exerts a little more. But if one does things slowly one at a time, there is no lack of oxygen to be felt. If you walk briskly with some load on your back, you will feel short of breath. But a slow leisurely walk is a pleasure. Because of cold, people huddle together in small rooms, cover their faces with shawls and scarves and close all windows-doors tightly. This creates an artificial shortage of oxygen in that room and some do die in such conditions. The blame is put on weather at Kedarnath! When I was there I saw a dead man. I enquired about his death and came to know that he was sitting in the basket on the back of a coolie and had wrapped himself in a polythene sheet to protect himself from rain. Naturally he died due to lack of oxygen! In my opinion, even moderately fit people can survive weather at Kedarnath if they take proper precautions.

Climbing down from Kedarnath to Gaurikund is relatively easy. Only keep an eye on horses! We covered it in 6 hours.

From Gaurikund we went to Uttarkashi. It took about 12 hours. On the way we saw a place named Dalla. A small town but a great place to stay. We stayed at Kailash Ashram on the banks of Bhagirathi at Uttarkashi. It was a lovely place. Next was a rest day. We were all tired because of the trek to Kedarnath. We visited a few temples in Uttarkashi.

Though my legs were complaining, I dragged them to a spot on the road that leads one out of Uttarkashi. I wanted to take a few snaps of sunset and reflections of lights in Bhagirathi. I had to wait for quite some time but I was rewarded with excellent snaps at the end. Here is one of them.

Next destination was Janaki chatti, the base camp for Yamunotri trek. It took us about 8 hours to reach there from Uttarkashi. On arrival I was rewarded with excellent snaps of sunset. Again the golden light on the snow peaks!

Yamunotri trek is shorter but it is a straight climb! The road is cleaner as there are fewer people. The valley is full of flowers and unfortunately full of plastic that people have littered. It is a great pleasure to watch white waters of Yamuna rush down the valley. This trek too is a delight to shoot. We took 6 hours to reach the top. I went to the hot water kund straight for a bath and it was exhilarating! I did not want to get out of it but......

The temple is less crowded. You get a darshan peacefully and comfortably. The walk back to Janaki chatti was easy and fast.

From here we went to Gangotri. We stayed at Bhairav ghati about 9 Km away from Gangotri. It was a lovely place. As Gangotri is the origin of a giant river, Ganga, everything is extra large here! The mountains, the trees, the valley...... The river flows so deep that you rarely see the water from the road. The mountain peaks are snow covered. There are very very tall trees on the slopes of mountains.

Darshan at Gangotri was a pleasant affair. There were fewer people on account of a traffic jam, which we had escaped by a few seconds earlier! I walked back to Bhairav ghati with my father for about 6-7 kilometres. It was a lovely walk. I shot many photographs. Our bus picked us up later.

With Gangotri we completed our Char-Dham yatra. Later we visited Dhanaulti, a lovely hill station.

As I look back, I am drawn quickly to the evening at Kedarnath where I experienced bliss. Pure bliss. Now I understand the real purpose of this yatra is to make you realise the real joys of life and vulnerability of your very being. The whole yatra makes you realise how insignificant our lives are when we compare them to vast canvas of nature that unfolds in front of our eyes every moment.