Getting paddy prices right
Surjit Bhalla recently argued in this newspaper (Price of Paddy Populism, May 10, 2012, http://goo.gl/37deF) that the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy in India is the highest in the world, and that paddy farmers (kulaks) have been pampered, and CACP’s recommended MSP for paddy is dirty economics and dirtier politics. Mr Bhalla has a sharp mind (and sharp tongue!), and I very much respect and admire that quality of his. But here is a counter argument to his (after all, we are argumentative Indians), and let people judge where we stand on paddy pricing.