Articles by A Vaidyanathan

The standing committee's recommendations on the NREG call for basic changes in the concept and design envisaged in the draft bill. They are essential, indeed imperative, if the programme is to be effective and thus deserve strong support. It should be obvious however that concurrence of the state governments and their willingness to abide by the operational implications of the legislation are essential. The most serious lacuna in the report is that it sidesteps the problems involved in ensuring that this precondition is met.

How much water will be needed in the coming decades, and to what extent they can be met are issues of critical importance. Assessments of the future water scenario depend crucially on (a) the technically feasible and economically viable augmentation of the quantum of surface and groundwater available for use; (b) the quantum of water needed to meet the requirements; (c) the ratio of consumptive use to gross utilisation in different uses, the scope for and prospects of increasing this ratio; and (d) increasing the productivity per unit of consumptive use in agriculture. This paper seeks to estimate the 'consumptive use' of water in crop production; the ratio of consumptive use to gross water utilisation, and the productivity per unit of consumptive use.

There are many aspects of the project for interlinking the peninsular rivers - conceptual, technical, environmental and economic - which need careful, detailed and objective review by independent experts and there has to be open public discussion of issues before the project is taken up for implementation. A proper review of the project must assess both its technical feasibility and whether the costs of increasing effective supply (including environmental and rehabilitation costs) by augmentation through interlinking is commensurate with the benefits by way of increased production. It must also be examined whether there is scope for improving efficiency of use beyond what is assumed, what the costs and benefits would be and how they will compare with those of interlinking

The availability of public funds for socio-economic research has undoubtedly encouraged and facilitated research outside the government. It has made a significant contribution by opening important areas (such as gender studies, environment, dalits and other disadvantaged segments) of research, bringing new issues on the public agenda and livening the debate on social and development policy. But important as these developments are, all is not well.

Pressures for liberalisation and globalisation of Indian agriculture are growing. The focus is now on three major issues: (1) Further reduction and eventual elimination of restrictions on both internal and external trade in agricultural products. (2) Reduction and eventual elimination of input subsidies. (3) Putting in place an intellectual property rights regime for seeds and plant varieties and allowing transnational agribusiness corporations to operate freely in the country. A critical scrutiny of these propositions.