Thursday, September 24, 2009
Call to guard against subsidies leading to “eco-cide”
From The Hindu
CHENNAI: M.S. Swaminathan, Chairman of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, on Wednesday warned against subsidising ecological suicide in the Indo-Gangetic plains. “We cannot afford that area to suffer. If you enter policymaking you should ensure that you do not give subsidies for what I call eco-cide, or ecological suicide,” he told students of the Madras School of Economics on the occasion of its Founding Day.
He added that this would apply to subsidies given “in normal years as a part of political favour-seeking.” However, in a drought year such as this year, support to affected people would be essential.
Highlighting recent and “increasingly alarming reports,” for example in Science magazine, Professor Swaminathan said the latest remote sensing technology has shown that the heartland of the Green Revolution, including the Indo-Gangetic plain, is in deep ecological distress. “But that is the region feeding the public distribution system,” he said, explaining that if natural resources are exploited beyond their rejuvenation capacity, that will lead to difficulties in agriculture.
Professor Swaminathan addressed the student body, faculty and guests on the occasion of MSE’s 16th Annual Day celebrations as chief guest. MSE also marked the passing of its Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Dr. Raja J. Chelliah, with Professor Swaminathan remarking that he personally knew how much effort Dr. Chelliah took to establish the School, including the academic programmes and infrastructure .
MSE Director D.K. Srivastava delivered the welcome address. Certificates were presented by Professor Swaminathan to students graduating with masters degrees and the course toppers.
Economists in Chennai
Pointing out that Chennai has been fortunate to have renowned economists such as Dr. Chelliah and Dr. Malcolm Adiseshiah, who established the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Professor Swaminathan said: “Such economists have not only made enormous personal contributions to the science and to policy formulation but also to institution-building.”
C. Rangarajan, Chairman of MSE and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, described the MSE as Dr. Chelliah’s ’child.’ “It was due to his vision and dedication that this institution has become what it is today.” Dr. Chelliah’s ambition was to set up an institution which provided excellent avenues for teaching and research in economics in this part of the country, Dr. Rangarajan said, and this has been fulfilled.
Advising economists graduating from the MSE to “marry collegiate economics with public policies,” Professor Swaminathan said agricultural development policies, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and policies in the area of food and nutrition security deserved more attention from policymakers.
Professor Swaminathan underscored the ecological importance of the NREGA, saying: “If you look at the NREGA guidelines, labour is to be used for the purpose of watershed management, water harvesting, soil conservation and a whole series of steps which will lead to building up permanent assets.”
Dr. Rangarajan touched upon prospects for the Indian economy as it emerged from the global financial crisis even as it faced a drought. “My own estimate for the current year is that the economy will grow at between 6 per cent and 6.5 per cent,” he said. But the distress faced in rural areas caused by output shortfalls and deficient rain should not be underestimated.
He said: “The financial crisis and the meltdown shows that India is integrated with the rest of the world,” and the drop in the growth rates for the present year from earlier years when it was above 9 per cent reflected this integration.
“The de-coupling theory does not hold good and globalisation cuts both ways, spreading distress as well as prosperity.”
CHENNAI: M.S. Swaminathan, Chairman of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, on Wednesday warned against subsidising ecological suicide in the Indo-Gangetic plains. “We cannot afford that area to suffer. If you enter policymaking you should ensure that you do not give subsidies for what I call eco-cide, or ecological suicide,” he told students of the Madras School of Economics on the occasion of its Founding Day.
He added that this would apply to subsidies given “in normal years as a part of political favour-seeking.” However, in a drought year such as this year, support to affected people would be essential.
Highlighting recent and “increasingly alarming reports,” for example in Science magazine, Professor Swaminathan said the latest remote sensing technology has shown that the heartland of the Green Revolution, including the Indo-Gangetic plain, is in deep ecological distress. “But that is the region feeding the public distribution system,” he said, explaining that if natural resources are exploited beyond their rejuvenation capacity, that will lead to difficulties in agriculture.
Professor Swaminathan addressed the student body, faculty and guests on the occasion of MSE’s 16th Annual Day celebrations as chief guest. MSE also marked the passing of its Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Dr. Raja J. Chelliah, with Professor Swaminathan remarking that he personally knew how much effort Dr. Chelliah took to establish the School, including the academic programmes and infrastructure .
MSE Director D.K. Srivastava delivered the welcome address. Certificates were presented by Professor Swaminathan to students graduating with masters degrees and the course toppers.
Economists in Chennai
Pointing out that Chennai has been fortunate to have renowned economists such as Dr. Chelliah and Dr. Malcolm Adiseshiah, who established the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Professor Swaminathan said: “Such economists have not only made enormous personal contributions to the science and to policy formulation but also to institution-building.”
C. Rangarajan, Chairman of MSE and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, described the MSE as Dr. Chelliah’s ’child.’ “It was due to his vision and dedication that this institution has become what it is today.” Dr. Chelliah’s ambition was to set up an institution which provided excellent avenues for teaching and research in economics in this part of the country, Dr. Rangarajan said, and this has been fulfilled.
Advising economists graduating from the MSE to “marry collegiate economics with public policies,” Professor Swaminathan said agricultural development policies, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and policies in the area of food and nutrition security deserved more attention from policymakers.
Professor Swaminathan underscored the ecological importance of the NREGA, saying: “If you look at the NREGA guidelines, labour is to be used for the purpose of watershed management, water harvesting, soil conservation and a whole series of steps which will lead to building up permanent assets.”
Dr. Rangarajan touched upon prospects for the Indian economy as it emerged from the global financial crisis even as it faced a drought. “My own estimate for the current year is that the economy will grow at between 6 per cent and 6.5 per cent,” he said. But the distress faced in rural areas caused by output shortfalls and deficient rain should not be underestimated.
He said: “The financial crisis and the meltdown shows that India is integrated with the rest of the world,” and the drop in the growth rates for the present year from earlier years when it was above 9 per cent reflected this integration.
“The de-coupling theory does not hold good and globalisation cuts both ways, spreading distress as well as prosperity.”
Labels: C. Rangarajan, de-coupling, ecology, Indian economy, M.S. Swaminathan, Madras School of Economics, NREGA, Rajah Chelliah
# posted by Narayan Lakshman @ 1:31 AM 
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
