Call The Drought - Mr.Pawar

I have been waiting patiently for quite a while now and speaking frankly at this time of year I wouldn’t be wrong if I said that some degree of honesty from the government would be highly appreciated regarding the great Indian monsoon. The signs are out there aplenty to suggest that this year the monsoon is a failure. The crops aren’t being sown yet, the canals are empty, most importantly it’s not raining, and the water is not there.

It is extremely irritating to see the government’s Agriculture Ministry brow beating all the way around the bush with statement after statement saying that the monsoon will pick up. In our last look at the monsoon we said that we are one step away from declaring that the monsoon is a failure. Today we can indeed say that the rains are not coming this year. However the government has to simply call the situation. Once it declares a drought situation, the country can move on.

What we are instead seeing is a political soap opera for needless reasons, the ones who end up paying the price are a.)The Farmers b.)The Consumers.

When it comes to declaring a drought, we know that the southern and north eastern states have received their share of rain .This makes up a percentage of the countrywide rain index. We can’t however use that general number to declare if India has hit drought or not.

Because each state has a specific crop to produce and there is no way water falling on a banana plantation in Kerala can magically also fall on a wheat crop in Punjab.

It’s the state administration that has declared the drought and most of central India is without water. People don’t have enough water to do their daily chores, and these are city folk. Don’t even ask about the farmer trying to plant a crop in his village.

There is no escaping the fact that there is a definite grain shortfall this year because one entire crop cycle has not or is not going to happen. By this time the seeds must have been sown, the farmer isn’t even considering that because the land is as dry as a camel’s back—absolutely no moisture.

The Indian stock market has already read the monsoon as a failure. The events have been factored in and with today’s developments they are guaranteed to be taken into account.

So why then doesn’t the government simply come out and declare a drought? Surely the people aren’t going to hold them responsible for the rains not coming down.

Food prices are very high as of right now. Vegetables are the worst hit. It’s taken less than ten days for the wholesale price index to jump up leading to daily veggies costing more at a time when the overall inflation rate is in the negative.

We aren’t idiots Mister Pawar, so saying things like “The Monsoon Will Pick up Soon” only instills a false sense of security. It’s already the Tenth of August. Unless you are a God who can make the rain come down-please don’t waste our time. Do your job and call the situation.

Why is it taking so long?