India is a fast-growing economy but as data from the past two decades show, growth of the economy is not commensurate with growth in employment (“ >Going against the grain ”, Feb.5) We appear to be obsessed with coining buzzwords such as ‘Make in India’, ‘ease of doing business’ and portray manufacturing growth to be the solution to all our ills. How can we forget that more than half our population relies on agriculture and allied activities? The need of the hour is a radical rethink of strategy for the agrarian sector in the form of research and development, irrigation facilities, cold storage, market connectivity and food processing technology. There has to be a new buzzword now — ‘ease of doing agriculture’.
Makesh S.,
Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu
We need to revisit A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s vision for transforming rural India where he envisaged empowering rural people with the ‘Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas’ (PURA) so as to create physical, electronic and knowledge connectivities in villages; physical connectivity as good roads, electronic connectivity as communication and digital technologies, and knowledge connectivity through skill development. If done, it would have also led to the formation of smart villages. It is time such a mission is set for rural India and pursued with full vigour in its implementation.
Ratan Betegowda,
Bengaluru
Degradation in the agriculture sector is what has caused a massive exodus from farming. This inter-sectoral shift is alarming and detrimental to India’s food security as well as the environment even as we are now starting to lose thousands of acres of prime agricultural land to industrial and concrete urban-based structures. Agriculture is at India’s core and we must start encouraging youngsters to turn entrepreneurs who will follow skill-based farming. Agriculture must be linked to the ‘Start-up India’ plan.
Ashutosh Kumar,
New Delhi
Educated people must enter our primary sector to take it to an all-new level. The huge human resource in agriculture must be seen as an asset and not as a liability. India also has better soil fertility than most Asian countries and millions of hectares of arable land. Why let this go to waste as this is a sector where more than half the population can reap immense benefits?
P.K. Indira Priya,
Chennai
