Problem solving, the Kolithad way

In his lifetime, he was a bit of a terror. For, given his hold on Saurashtra politics, the chief ministers knew that wisdom required him on their own side. He built the Sri Kolithad Group Service Cooperative Mandali. Established on April 27 1950, it is still robust. No “governance” problems, 54th annual report for 2003-04 printed with a picture of Vallabhbhai, its president from September 25 1975 to September 10 1988, on its front page, accounts audited, elections on time, NPAs less than five per cent.

We sit down. There are Savaliyas, Dudhatras and Sardharas and other local castes. All nice sounding Gujarati names, Suresh Kumar, Dinesh Bhai, Bharat Bhai, Rajes, Jagadish bhai, Nanji Bhai and so on. We are all prosperous and we know it. The economist saheb from the city better know it too.

More than half of the land in Kolithad and ten other villages served by the mandali is under kapas. Prices have gone down, the area is falling, but it is still the only bet for many of those present. Biotech seed is now expensive, it can go up to Rs 3,000. But the credit limits have gone up. They can get up to Rs 18,000 by way of a crop loan, so finance is no longer a problem. I am happy. Having made the point in the regional advisory committee of NABARD, the State Level Committee raised the limits. Why should there be a limit, I ask them? If you are making money why shouldn’t you get anything you ask for, provided you can convince the bank manager you will repay him from the sale? They don’t understand. The peripatetic economist is talking of a world which is not theirs. The last time I raised it at Delhi, a VVIP policy maker looked at me censoriously and said every loan application will then have to go to the bank chairman. It is enough, isn’t it, to raise the loan limits.

By now, the chai has come. In Gujarat we “take” chai, we don’t “drink” it. It is nourishing milk, sugar and leaves all boiled into a heavy concoction. We have a superb chevada to go with it with plenty of red chillies and greens in it. Fresh, crisp, just fried, with lots of groundnuts. Not the edible variety from Andhra, but the high oil content, tasty and juicy Saurashtra groundnut. They also grow a lot of red chillies for which this area is famous. The Chinese came and bought it all up. I tell them I was in Kunming in October chairing an RGF delegation and in the local bazaar, the Gujarati chillies are sold separately. I tell them how south western Chinese cuisine thrives on chillies and that the Chinese government is now very tolerant of religious practices and Buddhism is undergoing a revival. The farmers like it for they are a very religious people. I tell them Chinese Buddhists are vegetarians like them, so the chillies go well in their food. Will they like to go to Kunming to check out the market, have fun?

There are plenty of problems. Neel Gai, a protected species, ravage their crop. I see a very weak fencing built around a field by the foresters. I tell them how a temple trust in the ghats around Mangalore has solved the problem of wild animals. Water is, of course, problem numero uno. They use private farm ponds. What about drips? Rats chew up the underground lines. I know field rats are bigger than the domestic variety, but why don’t they get back to the manufacturer? They look at me pityingly. What about the price of kapas, they ask me. I don’t know, I tell them, they don’t listen to me anymore at Delhi. I advise them to ask one of the boys without a job to read the Gujarati press business pages and make a small note for them on what the farmer in Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra is thinking about before they sow kapas again in June. Also, what’s happening in Pakistan, America and Egypt. Will the mandali set up a Producer Company to solve these problems? Rats, Neel Gai, a trip to Kunming and playing the kapas and chillie futures on the National Commodity Exchange? I tell them about the law I drafted and how “Just Change” with Tata Trust funds is organising adivasis in Karnataka to sell chai in markets. The problems are many. I don’t see others solving them. I hope they can make the jump.

The authorities should solve one problem, though. Bt kapas seeds are “illegal” all over the state. There is no recourse for the farmer if he is cheated for he does not even have a receipt. This problem has been written about earlier. Will someone please solve it?