The NDA-1 administration did itself the biggest disservice by believing in its own propaganda about what it termed as "Shining India." Even as the objective economic indicators on job creation, rural and urban income generation, electricity generation and consumption, etc indicated otherwise in the opposite direction, the Vajpayee administration congratulated itself on the massive infrastructure development, particularly highways, and the mobile and IT industries and felt that their slogan of Shining India would be believed by the people.
The same mistake seems to have marked the second anniversary of the NDA-2 administration. "Mera desh badal raha hai" goes with the display of idyllic rural and agriculture scenes along with the pictures of smiling and happy farmers, young men and women. This is far from reality. Even thoughTransport Minister Nitin Gadkari has created an awesome pace of highway construction (25KMs a day), his counterparts in the ministries of industries and agriculture have been absolutely uninspiring in unfolding new industrial and agriculture policies. Let's be clear: Make in India can't be a substitute for a policy; and tweaking minimum support prices for agricultural goods can't supplant a robust agriculture policy.
So the results are there on the ground: The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - a composite indicator of manufacturing sector performance - fell from 52.4 in March to 50.5 in April. The sharp fall in April from the average PMI of 52 for the last quarter of FY16 (that gave a GDP growth rate of 7.9 percent) is a warning signal. A reading above 50 on the PMI denotes expansion while that below 50 indicates contraction in activities.
Pollyanna De Lima, Economist at Markit and author of the report, said: "PMI data for India show a marked slowdown in output expansion during April, as the growth of new work ground to a halt following a robust increase in the prior month." With respect to employment, April saw manufacturing employment remain broadly unchanged. This trend has been evident for almost two years.
Further, agriculture production may swing up in FY17 if the rain god turns merciful. That doesn't mean better income for the farmers, despite the hike of 3-4 percent in procurement prices and bonuses. At best, food production may rise by 2 to 2.5 percent in FY17 from the reported 1.25 percent in FY16. This isn't going to solve the problem of rural distress, much less encourage farmers to boost production and productivity.
Already, farmers associations and agri-economists are angry over the "meagre" hike in the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy, pulses, and other crops. The say that the hike in MSP of ₹60 a quintal for paddy and ₹425 for pulses was far below the farmers' expectations. It is far short of the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers, headed by Prof MS Swaminathan, which had recommended that the MSP be raised by 50 percent over and above the weighted cost of production.
P Chengal Reddy, Secretary-General of the Consortium of Indian Farmers' Associations (CIFA), said the association rejects the MSP since it is "too low". The BJP had in its election manifesto promised that "MSPs would reflect the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, but this year's hikes are nowhere near that," he said.
"The government has not taken into account the increasing cost of production. Given the drought situation, farmers were expecting good support prices for paddy, but the hike, seemingly made mechanically, are negligible," Vijoo Krishnan, President of the All-India Kisan Sabha, said.
The AIKS had demanded an MSP hike of ₹2,000 a quintal for paddy, he added.
"The hike in pulses support prices is well below our expectation.
Between NDA 1 and 2, hallucination rules as reality
By IndianMandarins - 2016-06-02 12:27:10
The NDA-1 administration did itself the biggest disservice by believing in its own propaganda about what it termed as "Shining India." Even as the objective economic indicators on job creation, rural and urban income generation, electricity generation and consumption, etc indicated otherwise in the opposite direction, the Vajpayee administration congratulated itself on the massive infrastructure development, particularly highways, and the mobile and IT industries and felt that their slogan of Shining India would be believed by the people.
The same mistake seems to have marked the second anniversary of the NDA-2 administration. "Mera desh badal raha hai" goes with the display of idyllic rural and agriculture scenes along with the pictures of smiling and happy farmers, young men and women. This is far from reality. Even thoughTransport Minister Nitin Gadkari has created an awesome pace of highway construction (25KMs a day), his counterparts in the ministries of industries and agriculture have been absolutely uninspiring in unfolding new industrial and agriculture policies. Let's be clear: Make in India can't be a substitute for a policy; and tweaking minimum support prices for agricultural goods can't supplant a robust agriculture policy.
So the results are there on the ground: The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - a composite indicator of manufacturing sector performance - fell from 52.4 in March to 50.5 in April. The sharp fall in April from the average PMI of 52 for the last quarter of FY16 (that gave a GDP growth rate of 7.9 percent) is a warning signal. A reading above 50 on the PMI denotes expansion while that below 50 indicates contraction in activities.
Pollyanna De Lima, Economist at Markit and author of the report, said: "PMI data for India show a marked slowdown in output expansion during April, as the growth of new work ground to a halt following a robust increase in the prior month." With respect to employment, April saw manufacturing employment remain broadly unchanged. This trend has been evident for almost two years.
Further, agriculture production may swing up in FY17 if the rain god turns merciful. That doesn't mean better income for the farmers, despite the hike of 3-4 percent in procurement prices and bonuses. At best, food production may rise by 2 to 2.5 percent in FY17 from the reported 1.25 percent in FY16. This isn't going to solve the problem of rural distress, much less encourage farmers to boost production and productivity.
Already, farmers associations and agri-economists are angry over the "meagre" hike in the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy, pulses, and other crops. The say that the hike in MSP of ₹60 a quintal for paddy and ₹425 for pulses was far below the farmers' expectations. It is far short of the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers, headed by Prof MS Swaminathan, which had recommended that the MSP be raised by 50 percent over and above the weighted cost of production.
P Chengal Reddy, Secretary-General of the Consortium of Indian Farmers' Associations (CIFA), said the association rejects the MSP since it is "too low". The BJP had in its election manifesto promised that "MSPs would reflect the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, but this year's hikes are nowhere near that," he said.
"The government has not taken into account the increasing cost of production. Given the drought situation, farmers were expecting good support prices for paddy, but the hike, seemingly made mechanically, are negligible," Vijoo Krishnan, President of the All-India Kisan Sabha, said.
The AIKS had demanded an MSP hike of ₹2,000 a quintal for paddy, he added.
"The hike in pulses support prices is well below our expectation. 
