Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statements on poverty eradication and agriculture sector indicate good intentions but they have not been translated into action on the ground yet, said M.S. Swaminathan, agriculture scientist and chairperson of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai. “A lot has been said and the Prime Minister himself is the biggest spokesman of the government. His focus on irrigation is good. But we don’t see action on the ground that matches these statements,” Mr. Swaminathan said, speaking on “Synergy between science and public policy for achieving the zero hunger challenge” at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
“More attention must be paid to agriculture and more autonomy must be given to science,” he said, on the immediate moves that the government must make. Mr. Swaminathan said a unified national agriculture market would also go a long way in tackling the hunger challenge in India.
Without strong political will, governments would not be able to implement policies that tackled hunger. “Not only at the national level, at the State level, unless there is strong will at the level of the political leadership, even the stated policies will fail,” he said, citing Tamil Nadu as an example for effective implementation of social welfare schemes. Mr. Swaminathan said ensuring assured income for farmers is the most effective incentive and the crucial tool in sustaining and managing agriculture output. “The scientific community must take up the responsibility of more political and public education in order to prompt better public policies,” he said.
