IIMB’s Centre for Public Policy hosts XVI International Conference on Public Policy & Management from August 23-25

Bangalore: The Centre for Public Policy (CPP), at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB,) inaugurated the XVI International Conference on Public Policy and Management, today, with a special address by Dr. Mahesh Rangarajan, Vice Chancellor, Krea University.

Describing himself as a student of environmental history, Dr Rangarajan talked of the role of public policy in India in the context of extreme events like the pandemic, climate change and ecological shifts.

“India is a democracy where all adults have a right to vote. Ours is a democracy which is still largely rural. These people are consumers as well as producers. Almost 42 per cent of our labour force is significantly engaged in agriculture. There is enough information on land holdings to show that 80 per cent of the holdings are below 1-2 hectares, which means a large number of agriculturists are marginal farmers. When the pandemic broke, some cooperatives in western India stopped taking milk from nomadic herders. Extreme, extreme events like the pandemic expose such producer communities and those who depend on the market for exchange to greater vulnerability. In such a context, one cannot look at public policy in a vacuum,” he explained.

The Amul story

Drawing attention to the Amul story in independent India’s history, Dr Rangarajan said three significant political leaders in Gujarat – Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Morarji Desai and Tribhuvan Das Patel – should also be celebrated along with Dr Kurien. “Manthan – the well-known feature film – talks about the cooperatives and social change and closes with a note on ‘hum apne society banayenge’ (we shall make our own society)”.

Three things, Dr Rangarajan said, worked for the success of Amul – milk would be collected directly from the producer, removing the intermediary; anyone with any number of she-buffaloes could become a member but would have only one vote; and middle-strata peasantry could engage in trade and economic activity.

Attempts to cooperatives in India isn’t limited to the Amul story. Citing the example of the Dasholi Gram Swarajya Mandal and its founder Chandi Prasad Bhatt, and the CHIPKO movement, Dr Rangarajan said the Amul kind of movement did not quite succeed in the creation of forest labour cooperatives. “What was missing was the fact that they did not consider that it may be possible to minimize the impact of market forces by having more cooperatives systems not only of marketing but also of credit.”

Calling for the regeneration of the tendu (tobacco) leaf, along with the support for those who collect them (adivasis) and fishermen who catch in-season fish, he said community rights for these collectors also need to be taken up in a more forceful manner.

“In an India where market integration with the world began much before 1991, producers, collectors and cultivators continue to need better access to markets. In today’s world, one can have a form of capitalism, where one can draw from our knowledge of the markets to prevent downturns like extreme events. I hope our producers (of goods and services) can get access to the internet/ apps, where they can expand their reach to consumers and engage in targeted forms of marketing,” he opined, adding that it is time, to quote, Charles Correa, to “rearrange the furniture” by not just studying the past but preparing for the future with a plan that includes a more enabling relationship between government and cooperatives. “The state should move from a command and control role to an enabling role. The greater level of awareness and literacy, especially among the younger generation, gives me hope that we will change our understanding of responses and integrate knowledge systems.”