Call to meet challenges of globalisation

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 21. There is need for equipping the people of this country to meet the challenges posed by the ongoing process of globalisation. The initiative in this regard should be forthcoming from the Central and State Governments, it was suggested at a symposium on "Indian agriculture--problems and prospects" here today.

The symposium was organised by the P.T. Chacko Study Centre, owing allegiance to the Kerala Congress(M).

Initiating the deliberations, Mr. K.M. Mani, KC(M) leader on whose recently published document on this subject the symposium was held, said globalisation was both a threat and an experiment. However, the country should accord top priority to exploit the possibilities and the opportunities being provided by it. "The world is fast changing. To keep pace with the ongoing changes, the country should also be prepared to change for the better", he said. The industrial, agricultural and educational sectors should be restructured with a view to accommodating the changes desired, he added.

The sector worst affected by the WTO norms was agriculture. The clauses relating to the import of agriculture produces were adversely affecting the farmers of this country. Efforts should be on to minimise the damage in this area, Mr.Mani opined.

Mr.Thomas Issac, member, State Planning Board, suggested that India should be in a position to resist from within the WTO, the clauses detrimental to its interests. He lamented that the Indian economy was slowly slipping into the hands of multinational monopolies.

It was unfortunate that there were sections of bureaucrats and politicians acting as `yes men' of MNCs. On the other hand, there were also those who were prepared to meekly surrender before such monopolies. What the nation wanted was a joint resistance against them. "We should be at least in a position to bargain for our rights. The organised sector has been able to achieve this to certain extent. However, the unorganised sectors were being subjected to coercive tactics," he maintained. There was need to build a people's movement to resist unhealthy trends, he added.

Mr.C.K.Padmanabhan, State president of the BJP, was of the opinion that a Delhi-based lobby of bureaucrats was at work, jeopardizing the interests of the common man and at the same time, engaged in furthering its vested interests. It would be in the interest of the State to appoint a commission to study the implications of the WTO agreement on the agriculture scenario in Kerala, he suggested. He alleged that Kerala had failed to present its case well before the Sharad Joshi Commission. The BJP leader also wanted the Leftists to give up their adamant attitude on such issues and to follow a more realistic approach.

The need for a qualitative as well as quantitative improvement in the production sector, so as to help the manufacturers compete at least in the domestic market was stressed by Dr.K.N.Shyamasundaran Nair, Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala Agricultural University.

Mr.P.P.James, secretary of the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club, acted as moderator.

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