O J’s Corner

Kerala’s paradox

Kerala is poised to face the worst of the times when a food shortage would hit the country. Already it is short of grains and vegetables. The supplies from other states are dwindling as they also find it difficult to meet their commitments to their own people.

Actually there was a global warning by international agencies the previous year that food production the world over would hit the bottom due to environamental vagaries and climate conundrums.

In the beginning of this year the Manmohan Singh Government of India had planned to import large quantities of wheat from America. The Communist and left allies had taken cudgels against the UPA Government saying, it was a tactic for lifting unwanted wheat from the US at hefty prices to help the farmers of that country. Actually now we are witnessing a different scenario in America, Brazil etc where wheat and maize are converted into bio-fuel. Their production is well utilised one way or other to take care of their farmers. But the people of other countries would find it difficult to fill their tummies as wheat and maize are being converted into bio-fuel.

Let the Commies scratch their backs and get grains and food stuff from Communist countries if there are any pure genes available. Perhaps Cuba has the mind to help. But they don’t have enough to eat for themselves. Our leftists would like to have the stuff from China, but that country is only a namesake Communist regime. In certain respects they have gone over the standards of the copy-book capitalists. China is peculiar only for its lack of genuine democracy.

Let us come to the grain problem of Kerala. There is no easy way out. The Communists-led government now says it would supply rice through ration shops. But where are the supplies? Many states which can help Kerala are going to the polls this year itself. The ruling dispensations in those states are hankering after subsidized supplies to fetch votes from the poor people. Tamil Nadu is already supplying rice at Rs two a kilogramme. Andhra Pradesh has decided to provide rice at the same rate.

Kuttanad , the rice bowl of Kerala, has been inundated with flash floods caused by untimely summer showers. The farmers were frantically searching for harvesting machines, but then the trade unions of the Commies would not allow farmers to use harvesting machines. The farmers lost all their belongings. Ideology won, farmers lost. In course of time, the ideologues would also have to starve, for there won’t be rice coming from other states either.