Why Congress of RaGa and Cattle herd Politicians fear Land Acquisition ?

India worships poverty is not a new thing. This comes from the father of the nation M K Gandhi  who had a deep belief in minimal living. In fact he advocated and embraced poverty culture.  Not to be out done, voices across politicians , artists and litterateurs glorified the poor Indian.  This discussion is not about the virtues of poverty but a question  to cattle herd politicians and  the Congress of the Gandhi’s.  It is annoying to hear the collusion of Indian media and these politicians who magnify issues without any realism.  These so called representatives of the farmers are now  shedding crocodile tears  on their legacy of systemic  destruction  of Indian Agriculture. They fear economic development as a threat to their flow of unexplained income from  cattle fodder and land.

Don’t believe me .  read the facts below to judge for yourself about the so called custodians of Indian farmers and their hollow noise on land acquisition.

India’s  arable land ( fit for cultivation) is 157 Million hectares . Over the past 30 years , 3.5 million hectares (2%) was moved out of arable land category.  Most of  this land went toward urbanisation of semi urban  satellite towns around the major metros.

So How much land does an average farmer hold ?

	Small and Marginal	Medium and large	Remarks
Land Holding  Pattern* Agriculture Census Govt of India  in Hectares.	Less than 2 Ha ^	More than  2 Ha	^ Substantial number hold <  0.5 hectares
% age of land holdings	85%	15%	Small Size holdings control less than 50% of  total land. These people are dying while politicians are screaming for freebies for the rich. Now you know who the cattle herd politicians represent – the large farmer.
% age of area holdings	44%	56%	Few big farmers dominate farming in India small population with large holdings

What percentage of Indian workforce is engaged in Indian Agriculture ?

% Age  of workforce in Agriculture*source NSSO	1991	2001	2011	Remark
India – roughly 26.  crore Indians are employed	59.1	58.2	54.6	10% decline is visible

Are the number of Cultivators same or has this reduced ?

Agriculture workforce* source ICAR	1991	2001	2011
Number of cultivators In Millions	110.7	127.3	118	Many are giving up farming, unviable and sustainable
Number of Farm Labourers	74.5	106.8	144.3	Labourers  show dramatic rise Many are slaves to big farmers

Most of the rich farmers who owned large tracts of land came out of agriculture and hence the decline in population of cultivators. The small and marginal farmers had to give up and sell out due to unviable farming . Hence the increase in farm labours . The  rapid growth in labour force got accentuated  due to reverse migration of industrial and urban labour due to stagnating industrial development and lure of MNREGA wages . This escalated   the labour wage rates beyond marginal farmers affordability.. 10 years of hostile attitude on manufacturing and reluctance to  develop infrastructure by these cattle herd politicians , unimaginative activists and green terrorists  destroyed economic progress.

So why has farming become unviable  for the small farmers ?

Small land size and lack of automation , coupled with low farm productivity and high labour wages is killing these farmers. 

Agriculture Inputs	1971	2013	Data source ICAR study
Farm Automation	5%	45%	Automation has not reached  the majority
Input Power for agriculture
Cattle and Human Power	61%	10%	80 million bullocks and 20 million labourers used
Tractor and Electric Power	21%	72%	This is what most small farmers still use and maximum farm labour is deployed . 85% farmers  depend upon cattle and human labour to cultivate small land holdings. Is Cattle fodder cheap and has MNREGA increased the woes of small farmer or are the rich farmers using free cash ? The diesel and fertiliser subsidy reaches the rich only.
Area Sown per tractor	> 487 Ha	30 Ha	Most Tractors are deployed in large land holdings – mostly the domain of rich 15% farmers.

  

Availability of Water

Water availability		Some Questions we want the Cattle Herd and Congress to answer?
Through Irrigation	46%
Monsoon Dependent	54%	Why did the Govt  not push for interlinking rivers – 70 years of inaction ? Can the Congress explain why no action ?
		Why did the cattle herd politicians not take up water linking when they were fighting caste wars and religious votes ?
Ground water wells	71%	Water table is depleting is known – can this sustain ? What have the previous Govt done beside giving doles to fill their own pockets
Irrigated Canals	13%	Who benefitted from MREGA dole of Rs 40000 crores spent on labour ?  In the name of digging canals, not 1 new canal or permanent asset has been created.  Who got the major share ?
		What work is excess labour doing in last 10 years ? No where in the world has farms generated productive employment yet the cattle  herd politicians resist reforms and progress.

So how much agriculture output  are Indian farmers generating ?

Food Grain Production	1971	2011	Remarks
Total Food Grain Production in Mill tons	108	257	The farm productivity per hectare has remained same at 1.60 mill tons per hectare for last 40 years ? You can see how inefficient the Government has been

Economic value of Agriculture Produce in India

Total Value  of Agri Produce	740000 lac cr	This represents about 22% of economy
Total Value of wastage * DIFR report	100000 lac cr	A humongous 14% is wasted. More than 20 million tons of wheat and more than 40% wastage in food and vegetables.

You want to know why this wastage is so high ?

Total Storage available	Mill tons	Remarks
Food Grains	79.5
Open Storage	48	More than 60% of storage is Open and subject to weather vagaries. No wonder wheat and rice rots
% Age Availability of total	33%	The middlemen  make pots of money by black marketing. Now you know where Congress and Cattle herd get their political and personal funding.
Cold Storage	31	95% of cold storages are with private entrepreneurs . More than 65% are in Bihar and West Bengal
% Age Availability of total	10%	Are you surprised that 40% of food and vegetables  is wasted ? People do not get nutrition. Is this a joke on food security ?

You now know why food inflation exists in India. You also know how middleman hoard as the storage facility are not uniformly distributed all over India, and these politicians survive with their patronage and funding. So onions rot in open roads and potatoes are  sent to the west where storage is insufficient .The farmer lobby is the rich farmer lobby represented by all and sundry as they wield the  power to mobilize rural vote back.

So where does this leave the Poor Indian  farmer

Debt per farmer* NSSO data	Rs 47000	Is this surprising that farmers are committing suicide
Marginal farmers lose	Rs 18000/- per year	The cattle herd politicians and the Congress has reduced them to tatters.

The rich farmer makes at least Rs 3 lacs a year and tax free , coupled  with high input subsidies.  Does it surprise 27% of the MP’s are from Agriculture and all of them are rich so whose interest are they protecting?

So what do the farmers want now ?

Research by Centre of development studies  says

·         62% farmers willing to leave farming

·         37% don’t  want their children to take farming

·         86% are willing to end their dependence on agriculture

You decide, is the land acquisition being blown out of proportion by politicians who drove India to despair and poverty. All that these parties have succeeded  is  filling in their personal coffers and ensured that health , education and agriculture is neglected to perpetuate poverty . By their stated position on adversarial relationship with Industry they are ensuring  that jobs do not get created . Till we do not get professional and expert led governance, India is well poised  to become a democracy of doomed demographics.

So fight the cattle herd politicians tooth and nail if you want to see a reversal in fortune.

Be the change you want to see –CBSE board a living example of MK Gandhi’s advice .

With change of Government comes change in education thinking. Two successive Governments tinkered with the lives of students. So who gains ?

The UPA Government decided to do away  with  class X  Board Exams for CBSE students  in 2012.  Students studying  in this stream ,woke up to find out that  post class X , the number of seats available  to pursue subjects and streams of their choice were not available . Intentionally , some schools were indulging in weeding out average students and creating  opportunities for bright students from other boards  who aspired to pursue engineering courses in future.  This was attractive for bright students from other boards, as the Joint Entrance Examination for IIT’s or other engineering colleges  is  mapped to CBSE syllabus.  The School could brag and market it’s academic performance to gullible parents  and earn  higher tuition  fees  by doing nothing extra and students had a syllabus closer to their success requirement.

The  CBSE students who opted out of CBSE stream, post class X had to overcome hurdles such as marks and grade parity with other boards , domicile status  and  all of this added to a students nightmare for getting admission in a Junior college of choice, just to complete high school. Of course each of these students and their parents had to pay a price to seek  back channel favours for admission.

In the recent past, there has been a rethink in this and the system is likely to roll back to earlier system of conducting  board exams for class X and Class XII.  So this is likely strategic change once more, but how has all of this worked on ground so far ?

The adequacy of delivery platform

Teaching

The syllabus by design had  appraisal system  based on formative and summative  evaluation system, with weightage built in. The formative system was based on classroom interaction, some quizzes, project work, periodic assessment  while normative system was examination based on syllabus completion over a term. Much of the formative evaluation assumed teachers skills and randomness of assessment . Biased grading became a reality. Students started taking private tuitions – sometimes from their underpaid subject teachers at school , who saw additional earning opportunity for extra  tax free cash. 

Syllabus change

The syllabus changed it’s pattern. Some higher order thinking skills were built in each subject. Most teachers follow broadcast lecture based methodology  - read aloud, preach or write on the blackboard. Class interaction is limited to confirmatory questions. So how was higher order thinking going to be triggered when instruction methodology is on paper only and class teachers are ill equipped in these skills ? So here was one more business opportunity – emergence of Publishing industry that published model questions and answers guide books.

The chaotic Class XII Board examination 2015

The CBSE XII examinations this year is mired with controversy.  Newspapers have carried reports that this year the exams were held with a difference. Most  question papers were difficult , lengthy and pattern shift. More of higher order thinking questions . As a system, most of the students have prepared based on pattern of past 10 years examinations. All of them have been caught with a shock and surprise. Shock because of their inadequate performance and surprise because of sudden change. Even the board website has indicative question papers  based on past pattern.  Are the teachers equipped to  correct these answers  with lateral thoughts and  unscripted answers. What happens to the score parity issue for low scoring board performance overall ?  A class CBSE girl school  student committed suicide in apprehension of a bleak future. Many students are on the edge. Why does change get initiated without systemic execution  in ground ? So the students lose once more

Now a new direction is brewing.

With the new Government , lots of thoughts about making Sanskrit a preferred language and underplaying foreign languages  is doing the rounds. As it stands , the principal vote bank of the ruling largest party is Hindi heartland with Hindu heart, saffronisation  of  CBSE is a real possibility. That is future and is definitely visible. Such contrarian view on education has potential to send students in a vortex of doom.

Results on Ground

• Mass copying during exams . An eco system has got developed in which copying to clear exams is the rule. Even the lawmakers see the futility in changing this.
• No Indian university in Top 200 listing.
• More than 80% of Indian graduates are not employable after they pass colleges. This number has not changed since the last 10 years.
• Education Industry – of private tuitions, prepatory coaching classes, online tutors, is valued at more than Rs 600000 crores.  So you know, who is gaining at whose cost.
• Most private education institutions  operate under minority trusts or not for profit trusts. Majority  of not for profit trusts have leading politicians and their family members as trustees.

How is this being viewed by others

Singaporean Thomas Ong, a director at a local private equity firm, recently got invited as a guest lecturer at a private college in Jaipur, India. "I had heard stories about India's young people with 'excellent academic and English speaking skills' but what I encountered was the complete opposite," he said.Not one student in a class of 100 has ever heard of Bill Gates or Warren Buffet. Most students could not understand, let alone speak fluent English. "The only question they had at the end the lecture was how to find a job at home or abroad," Ong said.

Frequent changes , reluctance to  build systemic education, and high political interference, senile and regressive educationists are leading India to a doom  and a visible demographic Tsunami of unemployed youth. In a sense, this is paradoxically in line with Gandhi’s thinking of minimal living in rural environment.