Government Operations in Foodgrains- A Comment

The dual market scheme suggested by Raj Krishna ('Economic and Political Weekly', September 16) would require the socialisation of half the marketed surplus of foodgrains. Actually, the Government was able to purchase only about eight per cent of that surplus on average over the 16- year period studied by Raj Krishna. Yet Raj Krishna nowhere examines why the ratio of government purchases to output of foodgrains has almost continuously declined over the years.