Planning the Agricultural Vision

The NDA Government are committed to give very high priority to the agricultural sector. They were also committed to abolishing planning and one of their earlier acts was to abolish the Planning Commission. We begin by outlining these features in terms of the macros of the policy regime for agriculture. However in practice the Government has been very proactive in promoting planning documents, particularly agricultural planning. We attempt to describe and explain this conundrum. Also examine this Janus face in terms of policy effects. Janus it may be recalled was the Two Faced Roman God, we remember by naming the first month of the Gregorian Calendar as January (Janus! January). The month of January merges from the last year (the old regime), but looks to the ‘future’ in terms of the next year. We then outline the essential features of the Agricultural Vision of the Government as prepared by the Niti Aayog and approved by the Central Government and in an Inter-State meeting. This is then examined in terms of the economic policies followed by the Finance Ministry in terms of budgeted outlays, borrowing policies and Centre – State financial relations including funding of special agricultural programmes. We also examine the trade policies followed by the Commerce Ministry, and the science and technology policies relating to agriculture followed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Science Ministries and look at administrative reform in this context. Finally we suggest modifications if any needed as suggested by the analysis.