The freeing up of commodity exports is necessary to ensure fair treatment to producers of agricultural commodities. There is also a crying need to free agriculture from the shackles of subsidising urban consumption of agricultural commodities.

One of the greatest enemies of freedom, and therefore of progress and happiness of our race is over-organisation. Mankind has been organised to death.

At the end of a quarter century of struggle, the typical farmer is as badly indebted as he was at the beginning but stands vindicated and cleared of all charges of being indolent, ignorant and incompetent.

The Green Revolution succeeded; productivity increased. But, at the same time, the government failed to see that for his added effort would the farmer get an adequate reward.

The price that a producer gets in a free-market must cover his cost. Why then have elaborate bureaucratic mechanisms for this simple task?

Prof. B R Shenoy’s “Fifteen Years Of Indian Planning” assesses the economic progress of the country in the last three Five Year Plans.