Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Local bodies fail on the agriculture front

Thiruvananthapuram: With the Agriculture Department and the Planning Board engaged in a tussle over the modalities of funding for the State’s food security programme, the focus is now shifting to the role of local bodies in utilising Plan funds for boosting agriculture production and productivity.

Going by the latest figures, the record of the local bodies is dismal despite being mandated to spend 40 per cent of their Plan outlay for the productive sectors, including agriculture and allied areas.

Of the Ninth Plan outlay for local bodies of Rs.4,614 crore (29.3 per cent of the total Plan outlay), only Rs.3,541.7 crore, representing 74.8 per cent, was utilised. The local bodies earmarked Rs.1,846 crore or 40 per cent of their outlay for the productive sector, with a Plan achievement of Rs.1,380 crore. The agriculture and allied sectors alone spent more than 50 per cent of this amount, it is assumed.

During the Tenth Plan , the local bodies’ total Plan outlay was Rs.6,784 crore, with a fiscal achievement of Rs.5,071 crore or 74.76 per cent. Figures show that the local bodies were able to spend only Rs.899.58 crore for the productive sectors out of the outlay of Rs.1,486 crore.

The Ninth and the Tenth Plans were important milestones as they witnessed the People’s Plan Campaign and the Kerala Development Plan implemented under the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) governments, respectively, from 1996-2006. The People’s Plan Campaign and the Kerala Development Plan gave emphasis to the productive sector, particularly agriculture. When the decentralisation process was kicked off, nearly 80 per cent of the powers related to agriculture and allied sectors were devolved to the local bodies. The total outlay for these sectors in the State Plan came down correspondingly.

However, no valid figures are available on the allocation made and amounts spent by the local bodies for agriculture and allied sector.

The trend continues in the 11th Plan. A sum of Rs.11,629 crore or 28.77 per cent of the total outlay of Rs.40,422 crore has been earmarked for the local bodies. The local bodies got Rs.1,540 crore in the first year of the 11th Plan in 2007-08. In 2008-09, the local bodies will get Rs.1,671 crore. If the mandated 40 per cent is set aside for the productive sector, including agriculture, the local bodies will have to utilise Rs.668 crore during the current year. If it is assumed that 40 per cent of the Rs.668 crore is spent on agriculture, the local bodies will have Rs.267 crore for agriculture development, with emphasis on production and productivity.

Despite spending such huge amounts on the productive sector during the Ninth and the Tenth Plans, the agriculture sector faced one crisis after other. The total land under paddy cultivation came down from 3.87 lakh hectares in 1997-98 to 2.63 lakh hectares in 2006-07. Rice production came down from 7.65 lakh tonnes to 6.4 lakh tonnes. The State also failed to boost productivity in pepper, vegetable, cashew, and tapioca cultivation. The allied sector did not do better with animal husbandry, poultry and dairy taking a severe beating. The production of egg, milk and meat came down drastically, making the State heavily dependent on its neighbours.

The Kisan Sabha, Communist Party of India’s farm organisation, at its recent State conference highlighted the conflicting trends in agriculture development and the negative role of the local bodies in the sector. Satyan Mokeri, State general secretary of the Kisan Sabha, said the three-tier panchayats did not have a development policy that would integrate the activities in agriculture and allied sectors at various levels to boost production and productivity. Neither has there been any success in integrating the local plans to the State’s development agenda. He said the government should examine how allocations for the local bodies during the Ninth and the Tenth Plans were utilised. “The situation is unlikely to improve unless it is corrected during the 11th Plan period. Unfortunately, we are into the second year of the 11th Plan, and the local bodies are yet to get clearance for their 11th Plan proposals,” he said.

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