Bush's comment on
Indian food consumption has become a controversial subject among
politicians. Many leaders became nervous over Bush’s statement. They
believed that Bush's statement was a shame for India.
While speaking about
global food crisis, he just cited an example. He said that “around 350
million people who have risen as middle class in India are capable of
spending money for nutritious food”. It shows India's prosperity. Every
Indian can take it as a complement. But instead of that, heated criticism
came from several corners.
The rise of middle
class in developing nations including China and India has been underscored
by economists recently. That is a reality. But the reason for food scarcity
is not limited to the increase in demand alone. There are many reasons
including climate change, bio fuel production, and the low productivity.
America is using massive quantities of food grain for bio-fuel to replace
petroleum products. Undoubtedly, this has caused a huge fall in agricultural
production. While discussing food crisis, he should have remembered this
reason too.
He can not cover up
his dangerous policies that also contributed to the food crisis. Back to his
India comment: Political leaders took this as a weapon for publicity with
the help of certain media houses. Actually this is the result of an
inferiority complex we have inherited since post colonial era.
Now the situation is
different. Our India is developing fast. As Bush commented, the number of
our middle class has increased. The purchasing power of average Indians have
progressed proportionally. They are able to eat nutritious food. The demand
for more food items will certainly lead to price-rise.
Above all, the
population growth is also very important. The production quantity of
agriculture should increase according to the demand in a changed scenario.
Indians should not go behind controversy quoting George Bush because as a
developing power, we should show some maturity.
India should invest
more in agriculture. Farm land should be used appropriately. Farmers should
get all the benefits from the government. If we are self-sufficient in food,
we need not bother about others comments. Some politicians even quoted Bush
and added flavor by including America’s Iraq policy too. What a
contradiction?
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- Report by Rajesh
Kumar for CalicutNet.com