IIF, 10th October 2007: Dr. J. D. Agarwal has welcomed the Government’s decision to raise the MSP for various food grains and banning of the export of non-basmati rice. According to him, it would provide relief to those engaged in occupation of agriculture and farmers. Many of them are suffering serious financial crisis. According to Dr. Agarwal it will also help shift the cultivation of food grains from other commercial agricultural products. It will facilitate increase in the production of food grain which has been found to be in shortage recently and being imported from abroad, building up inflationary pressure in the economy and also increasing the suffering of people belonging to the middle class and poorer sections of the society.

According to Dr. Agarwal, it is unfortunate that recently a number of farmers have been committing suicide despite the governmental efforts to provide them credits and Kisan Credit Cards. He has urged the government to more seriously look into the problems and difficulties faced by the people living in villages and lower middle class families in urban area who deserve governmental attention more than anyone else. This would be both good economics and politics added Dr. Agarwal. This category of people are more than 60% in India today and deserve to be provided with the capability to work and earn and contribute to the productivity of the nation through appropriate education, technical skills and opportunities to work. These people suffer from low incomes and disguised unemployment.

Dr. Agarwal feels that the administrative machinery at the village level and non-metropolis should focus on uplifting and taking care of these people rather than pre independence British way of administration and spending the allocated money for various projects.

According to Dr. Agarwal there is a need for drastic change in the role, duties and responsibilities and the attitude of bureaucracy at all levels to give shape to the policies, plans and programs approved by the Planning Commission, Central Government, various Ministers and State Governments to bring about effective change for the betterment of the country.