Thank you, Mr. Vice-Chairman, for giving me this opportunity to make my maiden speech. My family comes from Wardha and Shri Janeshwar Mishraji, who is not here, mentioned about the Ashram of Gandhiji which is Seva Gram and that is where my late grandfather Jamnalalji invited Gandhiji in the early 1930s from Sabarmati near Ahmedabad. Mr. Vice-Chairman, Sir, a lot has been said about this subject. I would try not to repeat it and one of the ways, I will do it is by concentrating on my region which is Vidarbha and which is the cotton bowl of the country. So, I will talk about cotton, Vidarbha and then, later on, a little bit about the economy and the society.

We have heard that suicides primarily are by small and marginal farmers. It is very correct. We have also heard that like any commodity, Mr. Vice-Chairman, industrial commodity, in the services sector, IT or otherwise, only way one can be sustainable and one can survive is when the selling price exceeds the total cost of production. Keeping in mind States like Maharashtra and Vidarbha where less than five percent of the land is irrigated, the chances of crop failure are obviously very high. So, if you take the cost of production of cotton in Maharashtra and Vidarbha, it is much, much higher than other places including a State like Gujarat.

Wherever a human life is lost unnaturally, it is a tragedy. But when someone takes his own life, in my view, it is a catastrophe. And yet, in recent years, we have seen thousands of farmers taking their lives with numbing regularity. What should be done? Costs have to come down or selling prices have to go up. For the time being, I would not worry about the consumer and the customer; though on onion prices, Governments have changed. But let’s leave it aside because here, we are not talking of the production of an industrial commodity, we are talking of 65 per cent of the population of this country. They are consumers as well as producers. We have heard enough that if you don’t take care of the farmer, how will India move forward? I fully share that view because we are all inter-dependent.

The Minimum Support Price for cotton in some States, has been lower than the cost of production. As Shri Arjun Senguptaji was rightly saying, MSP is fixed to ensure that a farmer, at least, gets something more than his cost - cost-plus approach. Mr. Vice-Chairman, the 2004-05 report of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices estimated the cost per quintal of cotton – I won’t give too many figures, only three figures at Rs.1643 in Gujarat, Rs.2229 in Karnataka and Rs.2216 in Maharashtra. But there was naturally only one Minimum Support Price and, in that year, that was Rs.1960. Cost being above MSP does seem to explain and, at least, it is one major reason for the distress in Maharashtra and Karnataka. In Gujarat, because the cost was lower than the MSP, we have not heard of that many or, if any, suicides from there.

So, the first point I am making, Mr. Vice-Chairman, is that you can take care of debt items—and I will come to that in a moment – but all those are temporary measures of help today, tomorrow. If you are to keep selling your product, in this case, cotton, or any other agricultural product, at a price lower than the cost of production, no amount of debt can take care because ultimately, the debt has to be repaid. Ek bar maf kar denge, do bar maf kar denge, interest ko bhi chod denge, lekin paise kahan se ayenge? Chahe budgetary support yeh kam kare, bank kare, ooper se to paise nahi ayenge kyon ki yeh to tax payers ka paise hein. So, ultimately, the farmer must make a profit. Yes, I will talk a little about the private moneylender, about whom much has not been said except some passing reference by a few speakers.

I may also mention, Sir, that in 2004-05, the Maharashtra Government offered prices of around Rs.2,500/- per quintal. Very good. But, then, it became unsustainable for their budget. Sir, in 2005-06, they reduced the price to Rs.1,980/-. I have already referred to the cost of production, in Maharashtra, of cotton, which was higher than Rs. 1,980/-. And the result is for all of us to see. Of course, Sir, I cannot say to my Agriculture Minister that he has been unfair to Vidarbha and partial to Western Maharashtra! That would be a very unfair comment, Sir, because I come from Vidarbha and he comes from Western Maharashtra! But that is a fact of life. Even when we have had a Chief Minister like Vasantrao Naik, who was from Vidarbha, probably not much was done because he did not have that strength.

Private moneylenders, Sir, when do they lend money? When the banks and the cooperative societies do not lend. The marginal farmer has not paid his loans. He cannot get loans elsewhere. Also, the moneylender is not only supplying inputs. He is also now buying the output. So, he has a stranglehold on the farmer. I understand that, nowadays, they are charging as much interest as 60 per cent per annum. Sir! I think, Manohar Joshiji or someone else mentioned 30 per cent. Sometimes, they charge 60 per cent. At 60 per cent, even the best-run industrial establishment will fold. Whether he charges two per cent, four per cent or six per cent, is not the point. The question is — I don’t understand it, Sir; maybe, the Agriculture Minister will tell me — that there is the Bombay Moneylenders’ Act. 1946. Our Agriculture Minister was, probably, four years old at that time, Sir, and I was a little older! Now, that Act says that if the moneylender is not licensed, he cannot recover his loan; he cannot go to courts, and if he is licensed, the total outstanding amount cannot be more than twice the loan. And it also specifies the rate of interest. I do not know why my State Government is not taking advantage of that Act. There must be some reason for that.

Rajnathji rightly referred to the WTO. I do not want to take too much time on that. I would only say this. When we talk of market prices, we talk of normal market prices. The international cotton prices are not normal. US$4 billion dollars, Rs.18,000 crores, is the subsidy provided by the US alone to just its cotton farmers. The total subsidy for farmers by the OECD countries is US$ 350 billion. Cotton farmers get Rs.18,000 crores there. My farmer, in Vidarbha also, maybe, can compete with the American farmer, but he cannot compete with the United States Treasury. Kamal Nathji, in some other context, rightly said that he can compete with the wheat imported, or any other commodity, in the agricultural area, but he cannot compete with the subsidies which a country like the United States provides. And because of this, I come to my recommendations, Sir.

In the short-term recommendations — Mr. Arjun Sengupta said about the import duty — first of all, Sir, I am referring to the import duty on cotton which is not produced in this country. If it is not produced, nobody gets hurt. And the textile mill people are very influential people. You know, industrialist, big industrialist, not people like me, small industrialists, Arjunji. So, fine.

But when cotton is produced in this country, if we import cotton from a country which subsidises its cotton farmers, then we must have an anti-dumping duty. I don’t understand why it is not there. It would be WTO compliant.

If there are no cotton imports from such countries, fine. I am just saying, if there is cotton import, which is a subsidised variety, then I must have a countervailing duty.

Sir, why don’t we hear about suicides from Gujarat? One reason is that, obviously, 40 per cent of the land is irrigated. In Vidarbha, it is four per cent. It is important that in Gujarat farmers normally also have some other income from dairying, vegetables, etc. which they supply to the nearby industrial centres. That does not exist in Vidarbha.

Sir, I believe that the relationship between agriculture and industry is symbiotic. A prosperous agriculture develops industry and a prosperous industry develops agriculture incomes. I strongly believe that India can’t move forward, unless its farmers move forward; and the growth is only of value, when it is inclusive.

Sir, the irony of the fact is that the cotton economy in our country has good growth in demand ahead of it. The domestic market is growing and with the end of Multi-Fibre Agreement, though China has benefited quite a bit, a very large market has opened abroad for us also. Our exports of cotton clothes are growing and we have further potential to grow.

Mr. Chairman, Sir, may I suggest six short-term measures and two medium-term measures? I am not referring to the long-term measure because John Maynard Keynes said,” In the long run, we are all dead”. My six short-term measures — some of them are being implemented or will be implemented or have been announced by the Government — are: One, a one year moratorium on repayment of dept owed to private money-lenders. This has been done for six months or so by the Andhra Pradesh Government. A two-year moratorium — I am saying only a moratorium because I don’t want to start a bad example of non-payment of loans — on repayment to cooperative institutions and banks, especially, by small farmers whose holdings are below two hectares and whose loan is below Rs. 1 lakh. But the banks must step in to help such farmers. Two, Immediate disbursal of, at least, Rs. 1 lakh to the families of each farmer who has committed suicide. I don’t want this to be misused. However, if you ask ten kinds of questions like whether he has committed suicide or whether he was murdered or whether he died in an accident, he will never get this money. Three, there should be a declaration that private money-lenders and the private sector man can’t charge interest above a certain rate, whatever the Government thinks fit, I would even say 20 per cent. Four, all land transfers that have been made in the last two or three years should be reviewed, and if the cause of such land transfers was exorbitant interest rate, then it should be considered, within the laws of the country, whether that transaction can be invalidated; and, of course, the lender should be repaid his loan. Five, a review of the Minimum Support Price of cotton and the appointment of the Maharashtra Cotton Procurement Federation, in addition to the Cotton Corporation of India, as an agent to procure cotton at the MSP. Six, anti-dumping duty—I referred to it already—should be levied on cotton, if cotton, which is subsidized, is imported.

Sir, the two medium term proposals are; One, to increase irrigation in the region through irrigation schemes and villager level initiatives to conserve rain run-off. Mr. Sitaram Yechury and Shrimati Brinda Karat are not here. Two, as I said, the relationship between agriculture and industry is symbiotic. So, we must encourage industrialization in these areas.

Sir, we have 60 per cent of the population living on agriculture. America has only two per cent of its population living on agriculture and it produces more than what it needs. Today, we are employing 60 percent in agriculture. But we can’t continue to absorb 60 per cent in agriculture. It may not be two per cent. It may come down to 40 per cent or 30 per cent or 20 per cent. Where will the surplus persons go? They have to go to industry and they have to go to the service sector which are complementary to each other. So, I would suggest that we must encourage industrialization in these backward areas by providing infrastructure. This is what is required. Industry does not want fiscal incentives. In fact, that distorts our decision-making.

In Himachal and Uttaranchal, I was against extending the benefits given by three years; that distorts the situation. Even I am going there. I didn’t want to, but there are such benefits that you cannot ignore them. Sir, in these backward areas, if we provide the right infrastructure, and, my friends may not like it, a flexible labour policy – don’t give them in areas where I am already there, but only in these backward areas – then, a lot of industries will come up in these areas, and both agriculture and industry would benefit.

What we need are a few, but effective measures. In our governance, we have come to be obsessed sometimes with the form, and we are unmindful of substance. There are, for example, 29 Government Resolutions of the Maharashtra Government on Cotton as of 24th May, this year. I don’t know whether they are only on paper. I may add that someone has to be responsible to implement all these plans. Right now, everyone from PMO downwards is responsible which means, perhaps, no one is responsible. I would suggest, especially for Maharashtra, that a Cabinet Minister level or a Deputy Chief Minister level person is appointed, and this position be created in Maharashtra with the sole responsibility of improving the state of agriculture in Vidarbha. A young and a dynamic person—he is not here; otherwise, he will shout at me – Shri Praful Patel, who is considered to be one of the best Ministers in the Centre, should be given this responsibility.

Sir, since this is my maiden speech, I seek your indulgence in saying a few words to outline my broad perspective on our economy and society. We pledged at our independence to take India forward. We have taken it forward, but nowhere near as much as it can be taken, or where it was capable. The glass is still only half filled. We still have unspeakable poverty, which was referred to by Dr. Arjun Kumar Sengupta, where 28 per cent of our people, that is, 300 million people, are living on less than one dollar a day , a poverty which crushes human dignity, stalking our land. Our poor governance, in my view, has, by and large, been a drag on our development. It is the tenacious spirit of India, alive in the hearts and minds of every Indian, whether he is a worker, farmer, businessmen, entrepreneur, or, I do not know whether I should say, politician, and their spirit, hard work and entrepreneurial ability which have taken and continue to take our country forward.

I believe that we stand at a propitious moment in the history of our nation. While we acknowledge the challenges, -- there are many challenges – a world or opportunity also awaits us. As you know, in the world, India is not just a flavour of the week or the month or the year. We are the flavour of the times. Previously, it was only China. Now it is China and India.

Both in the services and manufacturing sector, we are poised to gain from the developments in the world economy. We are becoming internationally competitive despite the serious handicaps of lack of infrastructure, right from social infrastructure, health, education, drinking water, sanitation and of course, physical infrastructure. The key reason, however, for my optimism, as I said, Sir, is the quality and entrepreneurship of our people. Though low as a percentage of our population, we must strive to increase this. We have the world’ largest pool of smart, hardworking manpower, be it in IT, manufacturing or finance. And, this is very important and we are conscious of it that demographically, we will remain a country of the young even in 2025. We have to ensure that we encash this demographic dividend by investing in their education and their skills. With education and skill, India will become a great country; we shall capture the world in the next 25 years. But if our youth are not educated, are not skilled, instead of becoming a great asset, they will become a great liability. Sir, we need good governance to achieve these goals of inclusive economic growth. This will come from changes at the top and pressures from below

The pressure from below will increase, as economic and social development make our people more self-assured and more articulate. The reopening of the Jessica Lall and Mattoo cases, under intense public pressure, bodes well for our democracy. Democracy is not just elections. Democracy is active participation by every citizen in the affairs of the state, and the state exists essentially to provide public goods and services to its citizens.

In this connection, in passing, Mr. Chairman, Sir,--I have no time to go into details – I would like to add that to ensure that we can take hard decisions, the Lok Sabha and all the State Assemblies should go to elections simultaneously; co-terminuously, and only once in five years. We should also ensure that a vote of no-confidence in the Leader of the House, the Chief Minister or the Prime Minister should be, like Germany, which is a democratic country, accompanied by a vote-of-confidence in an alternate party and person.

Sir, quality of leadership is crucial in determining outcomes. Leadership is not just a matter of charisma or showmanship or public relations.

But it is of understanding today, it is of envisioning a better tomorrow and having the confidence in oneself and of one’s team to make our future happen. Leaders are those that deliver better outcomes. Occupying a chair does not make us a leader.

Sir, Gandhiji occupied no chair but led the country from subjugation to freedom, striding like a colossus in our hearts and minds. We will do well, may I say so, Sir, in all humility, to remember Gandhiji’s teachings of the seven social sins – wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, education without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice and politics without principles.

In my view, precisely, because we have ignored these teachings that we have under-achieved

In this august House, I will endeavour in all humility to play the role that the Constitution envisaged each Member to play. That is, on behalf of the people of India, hold the Government accountable. No more, no less. We have enough good laws. What we lack is speed and justice in their implementation. I would like to consider myself as representing a large political spectrum. Three of the major parties in Maharashtra supported me as an independent; and my family is steeped in the Gandhian culture, and this gives me a lot of pride. So, I will try to be even handed as an independent, with right and wrong for the country being the sole yardstick for holding an opinion, though I may be mistaken at times.

In conclusion, Sir, coming into this august House, I am conscious of my responsibilities to the nation. Panditji’s ‘Tryst with Destiny” reverberates inside my mind. I have come here to try to help in all humility redeem the pledge that was taken by our founding fathers. So, may God give me the strength to make a difference! I get a strong feeling, Sir, that I can bank on the support of both sides of this august House.

Thank you, Sir.