Articles by S K Ray

S K Ray While sufficient meteorological and agricultural data are not available to make a historical analysis of the regional crop-wise variation in production due to the weather, the wide fluctuations in foodgrains production are associated with uncertain variations in the weather. Also, certain areas of the country are more prone to droughts and floods than are other areas. These factors have made sustained growth in production difficult.

Gaps in Food Policy and Analysis S K Ray Population and Food Supply in India by S S Madalgi; Lalvani Publishing House, Bombay, 1970; pp 160; Rs 22.

December 27, 1969 interests that he talks of were not so common as to produce an identity which all Indians could recognise as their own. The term "correct" implies a value judgment. Chandra may pontificate as to what was correct and what was not; he should at least explain his criteria for passing the judgment. To take a concrete example, there was an objective reality that the nineteenth century India presented. It was the one in which both Syed Ahmad Khan and Badruddin Tyabji lived. But the two responded to it in different ways. The one eschewed politics, or at least said that he did so, and opposed the Indian National Congress, which, according to Chandra's analysis, should he viewed as the correct representation of the objective reality. The other presided over the third session of the Indian National Congress. Whose res ponse to reality would Chandra regard as correct? The question is relevant because Syed has often been denigrated as an arch communalist who became the intellectual progenitor of Pakistan, which again was the consummation of Muslim communalism, not the culmination of a different nationalism. It should be revealing to many if it could be shown conclusively that what is called Muslim communalism

Review of Agriculture March 1969 ever, is : whether the assorted variety of opportunistic political groupings called united fronts and other Governments that rule the States will ever agree to dilute their powers in the manner suggested by Krishnaswamy, Only a bright optimist will answer this question in the affirmative. Another suggestion of Krishnaswamy relates to the creation of river boards (on the Jines of TVA in the USA) for each one of the major rivers and the linking of major rivers into a water grid. These river boards will be inter-State authorities and would not in any way interfere with the zonal councils. While, in matter of principle, I completely agree with Krishnaswamy's view of river development, none-the-less the accomplishments of DVC, for instance, have not been very satisfactory until now. The last essay "Regulating the Mar- SOMETHING fundamental and dynamic, with far-reaching consequences, has been introduced into the agricultural scene since 1965. However, there were previous periods, such as the end of the First Five-Year Plan, when optimism was similarly widespread. With this history in mind, the first rushes of enthusiasm regarding the New Strategy of Agricultural Development have more recently been tempered with caution. Some analysts are questioning the success of the high-yielding varieties programme at this early date [1, p A-l]. For example, the Agricultural Prices Commission has written :