Opinion: Observations on PM's `misleading statements' on `Agri Bills, Public Sector and Climate Change'

In the last 2-3 days, the Respected Prime Minister of India made some misleading & contradicting statements on three Agri Bills of 2020 & Public Sector Institutions & Climate Change in Lok Sabha, In Rajya Sabha, to the Press, etc.

Progressive Society

PM in Lok Sabha said that progressive society always embraces reforms with changing times. What Respected Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi emphasizes is to implement Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] Agenda "Corporatize – Privatize" India and thus keep more than 80% of Indians below poverty. What we need is not cell phones.

Late Respected PM of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee speaking at the University of Mauritius has expressed serious concern about the "worrisome impacts" of globalization, which he said has resulted in increasing inequality both within and between nations. He also expressed concern about the growing trends of mergers and acquisitions that are threatening both competition and freedom of choice. He also highlighted that huge global corporations enjoy sufficient financial clout to erode the regulatory powers of developing nations and ride roughshod over the rights of individuals to determine their future and thus it has increased income inequalities. – extract from my 2000 book. This is exactly PM Narendra Modi's objective.

According to Global Hunger Index 2019, India stands at 102 out of 117 countries falls below Nepal, Bangladesh & Pakistan. India's performance over 2014-2019 is dismal even with excess production. However, top business houses were rescued by the Finance Ministry by wasting lakhs of crores of public money. Some of them have run away from India with huge debts to Indian Banks, i.e., to the Indian public. The government simply watched this. Some of the politicians from other parties joined BJP to escape from the clutches of law. However, at the same time PM in Lok Sabha stressed the private sector's vital role in the economy and said the culture of abusing it for votes is no longer acceptable and bats for a private role in the economy, asks why babus are running PSUs. If the public sector is important, the role of the private sector is also vital. Wealth creators are a necessity for the country as only then wealth can be redistributed to help the poor. He expressed what can be achieved by handing over the nation to babus (government officials).

We can ask Respected Prime Minister, Sir, Your government on many occasions rescued RIL, through which Ambani became the 4th richest person in the world – from this wealth who benefitted, politicians or common man in India? But on the contrary poor lost their hard-earned money; at the same time, while people fought and got Steel Plant at Visakhapatnam and your government with the tacit support of the TDP government after the bifurcation of the AP state proposed to gift it to the private sector instead of rescuing it by providing what present AP CM wrote in a letter, Sir, to you. Is this factor not served the nation-building? Are the babus are not Indians? Are babus are not young when they joined government services? Is the government not running by babus including PM's office? Are the budgets not prepared by babus? etc. Sir, why not tell the nation, your government wanted to implement "Corporatize – privatize" India? It is as simple as this.

There are several public sector units in the running for national building, The only thing we need efficient and pragmatic governments at the centre and states to run the systems and take forward India in the international arena.

The respected Prime Minister of India also raised the role of the private sector in Covid-19. In fact, babus played a major role in this period and not the pharma. In fact, we used to have excellent public sector Pharma units like IDPL. These were killed with the government's apathy, and those worked in those started their own industries and minting thousands of crores along with created air and water pollution and creating new health hazards. Gujarat state is the worst polluting state according to the CPCB index.

In several states people have not elected BJP to rule but they are ruling against the peoples' mandate. Even in Rajya Sabha, BJP has no majority but people to serve their vested interests supporting BJP against the peoples' mandate.

MSP was there, is there, and will remain in the future

Respect PM says that "New farm laws optional, don't take away provisions that existed prior to their being legislated. If that is the case why we need Agri Bills? If that is the case why we need clause by clause discussion with farmers and could make changes to the farm laws. The clause has no meaning as for as farmers are concerned, as the basic structure of the laws are not going to be changed. But on the contrary, farmers are asking for the scrapping of the three agri bills and asking for legal status to MSP.

Respected PM Modi said in Rajya Sabha that MSP was there, is there, and will remain in the future. Earlier, PM said that the Agri Bills will be kept in abeyance for 18 months – though the Supreme Court has already put a stay on them. In real terms, all these have "ZERO" impact on CONTRACT FARMING, HOARDINGS, MSP, etc. The reality of this is clearly evident from a report dated 25th January 2021 "Telangana farmers lose as traders by cheap paddy from other states for export". If the MSP is Rs. 1,885 per quintal in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, it is around Rs. 1,650 in other states. The difference in price gives a massive advantage to exporters as well as consumers abroad. Paddy is exported from India to 170 countries. This clearly shows the fundamental fallacy of "One Nation - One Agriculture Market" in three Agri Bills of 2020. This works for corporate houses to exploit farmers. Also, imports – exports, PDS goods entering the black market, etc. Automatically, the MSP will be affected. We heard stories wherein the US government to protect the farmers from a slump, used to buy and dump in the ocean.

What farmers need is appropriate technology-action plans, strengthening of agricultural departments at centre and at state levels; and rescue from the disasters-distresses. For example, 11 AP farmers end lives in the last 2 months – most were into Cotton, Chilli cultivation due to debt and crop losses across Krishna & Guntur districts in the last two months. Recent trends in farmer suicides across the two districts reveal most were either cultivating cotton or chili, both of which suffered severe damage due to excess and unseasonal rainfall last season. However, the majority of them are tenant farmers who put heavy investment on these two crops by borrowing from private lenders expecting huge profits. This is not new several reports dealt on cotton related suicides in five Bt-cotton growing states, which the BJP government supported/supporting – see PM's book "Putting Farmers First" on page 10. It is like tossing a coin – head or tail. Because of this type of scenarios the Agri Bills of 2020 are unfit for India.

Climate Justice

PM Mode's address at Sustainable Development Summit - 2021 emphasized on climate justice to fight climate change. Climate Change is not global warming linked to greenhouse effect related carbon dioxide increase in the atmosphere – see WMO report of 1966, IPCC AR3 (2001), AR4 (2007) & AR5 (2014) and UNFCCC Article 1.

The adjusted linear trend in the observed global annual average temperature showed to reach less than 0.45oC by 2100 – without adjustment it is Zero Degrees Celsius. However, the natural variability in temperature showed -0.3 to +0.3oC with the 60-year cyclic pattern. The 60-year cycle is seen in the Atlantic Ocean & Pacific Ocean temperature regimes and changes in ice in the North Pole and South Pole regions with seasonal changes [summer low and winter high].

Even if we achieve zero carbon dioxide emission, the solar and wind power fields raise the temperature. This is nothing to do with the greenhouse effect. Here the main issue appears to be profit-driven power production wherein huge sums of subsidies change hands. Here green energy is not green as said.

In the last two decades, the Himalayan Mountains received heavy snowfall and thus this reflects more energy coming from the Sun and thus it causes cooling effect and not warming effect as some vested groups, running for the green fund, propaganda.

With the Polavaram project and Godavari Projects in TS, the temperature will come down around these regions with increased levels of water vapor in the atmosphere that reduces incoming radiation. This scenario is seen in Punjab, Hadrian, UP surroundings – decreasing trend in temperature. This is the reality.

This is India!!!