By Senior Journalist Amitabh Srivastava
I am slightly confused, which is not unusual, if you are a thinking person.
But it’s deeper than that.
The United Nations on the request of India has declared 2023 as the international Year of Millets.
The issue is basically about farming about which I know nothing even though ever since one of my older namesakes declared that it was his profession, every time you tell a Mumbaiwala you are going home they will say,”Achcha gaon Janey ka?”
I also do not have any selfies with farmers sitting on a Dharna for more than an year because I didn’t even try to understand the issues involved.
All I have is a little balcony with good luck plants that seem to have lost their charm on my luck.Maybe I need to get down on the right side of the bed in the morning and put my left foot first or breathe from the left nostril first as suggested by the babas (those who remain out till they are caught) and Dadis on various channels spreading ‘scientific temperament’ among the people.
Anyway when I saw three news items about Bajra in a single newspaper which I read first thing in the morning yesterday, I started wondering why?
Bajra (Millet)has been one of the staple dietary supplements along with Makka (Corn flour) in winters in India ever since I came to senses and that was more than seven decades back.
One news was about the lunch for parliamentarians offered by the Prime Minister that was mostly made of Bajra including desserts like Bajra Cakes.It was nice to see the Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition agree on something without picking bones(the lunch was vegetarian, silly)!
The second was about how Bajra could be used to prepare breakfast that was easy on the stomach and good for the weight conscious and immunity booster as usual.
The third which was more confusing was an appeal by the Prime Minister to the people to consume more Bajra because farmers growing the crop were in distress.
Moved to tears immediately by the earnestness of the appeal I started checking the price of Bajra with the various online apps on my phone.
While one kg of whole Bajra used as bird feed is available at Rs.30/ kg the Bajra flour suggested to make Theplas, Dosas and Dalia etc in the recipes ranged from Rs.109 to even Rs.390 per kg.
Will someone please explain how a farmer whose final product (Bajre ka atta) is selling at more than five times in the market could be in distress.
And if he is, will having more parties with cakes and Theplas of Bajra as the respected parliamentarians did help them out or arresting those exploiting the farmers and closing down their chain of stores?
(Amitabh Srivastava is a senior journalist and former special correspondent Hindustan Times . His view in this article are personal)
