Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words are printed in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions.

The income disparity in the new India is massive : 36 billionaires in India and 800 million people living on less than $2 a day. The challenge for achieving inclusive growth relates to the revival of agriculture. Farming is becoming a non-viable activity. A confluence of factors, from poor rainfall to the new availability of consumer goods which consume much of Indian families' incomes, has driven many farmers into crushing debt. The agriculture sector has many problems with a growth rate of less than 2% in the last decade. Further scope for increase in net sown area is limited. Disparity in productivity across regions and crops has persisted. Far from benefitting from the economic boom many complain that banks don't offer the rural poor credit, forcing them to turn to greedy money lenders, who typically charge up to 20% interest on a four-month loan. Healthcare and education costs have risen dramatically, while the global price of cotton has become depressed, largely due to the billions of dollars in subsidies Washington hands out to US farmers.

The approach to the revival of Indian agriculture seems to be incremental, rather than a holistic strategy. It is important to stress that growth and equity should be pursued simultaneously rather than following 'growth first and equity next approach. What are the challenges for achieving 4% growth and equity in agriculture? Policy makers like the National Commission on farmers mention cost reduction in agriculture as important to compete in a globalised world. The most important problem for the farmers is output price fluctuations. There is a big gap between producer prices and consumer prices. In order to protect farmers from national and international price volatility, a price stabilization fund is needed. The supply and demand side constraints have to be removed to raise growth. The support systems have to be tuned to improve productivity and incomes of farmers with emphasis on small and marginal farmers and dry land areas. One of the differences between the green revolution in the 1960s/70s and the present second green revolution is that risk is higher in the latter approach as it has to concentrate more on dry land areas. Trade liberalization has also raised the risk and uncertainty. Thus, policies have to keep in mind the increasing risk in agriculture. Agriculture policies have to be gender sensitive too since the share of women is increasing. The Government is aware that the crop sector may not be able to grow at 4% per annum but horticulture and allied activities like dairying, poultry and fisheries have to grow at the rate 6% to 7% to achieve 4% growth in agriculture. Investment in irrigation and rural infrastructure is important for agricultural growth. It is known that public investment in agriculture is lower than the requirements needed for achieving 4% growth. Bharat Nirman Programme is in the right direction but the progress has to be much faster.

Q:

What does the author view as a challenge for achieving inclusive growth?

• 1
  Doubling agricultural growth using an incremental approach.
• 2
  Regulating the availability of consumer goods.
• 3
  Achieving growth and equity in agriculture.
• 4
  Reducing cost of healthcare and education for the poor through privatisation.
• 5
  Maintaining a steady growth rate of 2% during the next decade