Expressing his dissatisfaction over the implementation of the Kuttanad package, renowned agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan has said that the government had failed to implement the project in a time-bound manner. He was speaking to the reporters here on Sunday.
“There were some flaws in the implementation of the Kuttanad package, as we failed to carry out it in a time bound-manner. We ought to have put in some kind of criteria in the implementation. If there was a set of standards, the implementation of the package would have been much productive and the present state of the package implementation could have been avoided,” he said. He further said that the failure to set a time schedule and the lack of coordination among various government departments were the major factors that adversely affected the implementation of the package.
“There is a need for integration of various departments involved in the implementation of the package,” he added. The Rs 1,840-crore Kuttanad package was recommended by the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and is being implemented to address the perennial problems of Kuttanad. Swaminathan further disapproved with the views expressed by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia that the paddy cultivation was no longer sustainable in the state. “Paddy cultivation in Palakkad and Kuttanad has proved that it is sustainable in the state. Ahluwalia may have made his views from the viewpoint of an economist and with economic benefits in mind. There is no substitute for rice,” he said. On the controversy regarding the Genetically Modified (GM) crops, Swaminathan said that it was a scientific process and there was no need to oppose it.
“The issue with the GM crops arose after the intervention of the corporates. In my view, it is a scientific process and there is no need to say no to it,” scientist said. Swaminathan also urged the authorities to set criteria for mining in the state.
“Mining should be carried out using scientific methods. Quarrying without proper scientific studies and using bulldozers will result only in the destruction of the ecology and it is better to lay down criteria for the same at the earliest,” he noted.