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6 EDITORIAL NOIDA/DELHI

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2017

THE HINDU
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Six steps to job creation

It is crucial to align policy across sectors and upgrade the country’s social infrastructure
budget for all programmes, includ-
ing cluster development, is grossly
inadequate. Spread over 6,000
Benefit of doubt clusters, it becomes even more in-
adequate to transform MSMEs loc-
As Aarushi’s parents are set free, there are ated in clusters.
troubling questions about the probe and trial Fourth, align urban develop-
santosh mehrotra ment with manufacturing clusters
the state of health and nutrition of
the population, it is critical that
public expenditure on health is in-
creased faster and not as late as
2025. In the absence of greater
public expenditure, the private
sector in health keeps expanding,
which only raises the household

T
he Allahabad High Court verdict acquitting to create jobs. The Ministry of costs on health without necessarily

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
n India’s highly segmented la- Urban Development (MoUD) has a improving health outcomes, be-

I
Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar of the charge of
murdering their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi bour market, one can still dis- programme called AMRUT (Atal cause the private sector does not
and domestic worker Hemraj in May 2008 is not merely cern at least three demographic Mission for Rejuvenation and spend on preventive and public
groups that are in urgent need of Urban Transformation) aimed at health measures. But the private
an indictment of the Central Bureau of Investigation
jobs: a growing number of better improving infrastructure for small sector prefers to set up hospitals to
Special Court that sentenced them to life in 2013; it ex- educated youth; uneducated agri- towns. Infrastructure investment cure people after they have be-
poses the shoddy investigation by the Noida police in cultural workers who wish to leave by the government always creates come sick rather than prevent
the first few days after the double murder, and hints at agricultural distress behind; and many jobs. But the programme them from becoming unhealthy in
the lack of probity even in the way the CBI handled the young women, who too are better (with the first mention of Industrial faced an inverted duty structure, does not take into account whether the first place. Preventive and pub-
case. The Bench terms some witnesses as “planted”, educated than ever before. India is Policy since 1991) became public, but the Finance Minister has made the infrastructure investment un- lic health have always been in all
and concludes that circumstances indicating that indeed the fastest growing large the UPA government had gone into changes, and slowly electronics der it is taking place in towns which countries the responsibility of gov-
economy in the world; yet with in- policy paralysis. Not only did tar- manufacturing has grown. have clusters of unorganised sec- ernment. More government ex-
someone else could have committed the crime had vestment low, credit offtake low, iffs come down too fast in the Second, special packages are tor economic activities. Hence an penditure in health means more
been ignored. At one point it even observes that there capacity utilisation in industry 1990s, but what has damaged man- needed for labour-intensive indus- engagement between the Urban jobs in government and better
was “clinching evidence” about the presence of out- low, agricultural growth low, plant ufacturing is inverted duty tries to create jobs. There are a Development and MSME Minis- health outcomes.
siders in the Talwar residence on the fateful night. It is load factor low, it is hardly surpris- structures. number of labour intensive manu- tries is necessary to ensure that
in keeping with the see-saw nature of the investigation ing that job growth is low as well. While the DIPP is preparing the facturing sectors in India such as this is happening. It will attract Revitalise schools
that the trial court’s findings — that the dentist couple Although growth is relatively industrial policy document, it is es- food processing, leather and foot- more investment to industrial Government schools also have
high (though slowing for last sev- sential that trade policy is consist- wear, wood manufacturers and clusters, which is where most non- such poor quality that parents are
committed the crime, that they shifted Hemraj’s body
eral quarters), it is the pattern of ent with such an industrial policy. furniture, textiles and apparel and agricultural jobs are. voting with their feet by spending
to the terrace, dressed up the crime scene and hid the growth that is the problem. Among Otherwise the two may work at garments. The apparel and gar- Fifth, focus of women. Girls are money on private schools,
weapons — now lie in tatters. The Talwar trial is illustrat- many dimensions of this problem cross purposes and undermine ments sector received a package losing out in jobs, or those with in- whether or not the poor parents
ive of the vast gulf between public perception, now lam- is the fact that in the quarter cen- each other’s objectives. This is pre- from the Government of India creasing education can’t find can afford it. The number of teach-
entably exemplified in speculative media coverage and tury since economic reforms cisely what has happened over roughly a year back. The other la- them, despite having gotten higher ers required, at secondary and
social media frenzy, and courts of law that go by evid- began, it is not manufacturing that many years. Excessive imports bour intensive sectors have been levels of education in the last 10 higher secondary levels, is very
ence and reason. However, the facts and circumstances has been the leading sector driving have been decimating Indian man- ignored. The nature of the package years. Secondary enrolment in the high, particularly in science and
growth. Manufacturing should ufacturing. An inverted duty struc- will need to be individually de- country rose from 58% to 85% in a mathematics. Many new govern-
were such that anyone would have been torn between
drive productivity in the whole ture has the following features: signed for each sector defined as matter of five years (2010-2015), ment jobs can be provided if more
blaming the parents and sympathising with them. It did economy. Services cannot, as ser- higher duty on intermediate goods quickly as possible. with gender parity. Skilling close to young people could be trained spe-
not help their case that the murders took place in their vices by definition ‘service’ the dis- compared to final finished goods, clusters (rather than standalone cially to become teachers for sci-
home. The claim that they were fast asleep while tribution of produced goods. with the latter often enjoying con- Cluster development vocational training providers), ence and mathematics at the sec-
Aarushi was being killed in the very next room and the So what can policy-makers do to cessional customs duty. As a result, Three, there should be cluster de- which is where the jobs are, is ondary and higher secondary
body of Hemraj was being moved to the terrace did revive job growth, other than in- domestic manufacturers face high velopment to support job creation likely to be more successful. The levels.
stretch credulity. vest more in infrastructure, which tariffs since the last 12-15 years, in micro, small and medium enter- problem with skilling programmes The same applies to the police
this government has been attempt- leading to higher raw material cost prises (MSMEs). Most of the unor- has been low placement after and the judiciary. While the num-
In the end, they have got the benefit of doubts that
ing to do especially for last 18 at home, emanating from the unfa- ganised sector employment is in skilling is complete. The availabil- ber of paramilitary personnel con-
surfaced during the probe and the trial. Usually, in a months or so, in both rural and vourable inverted duty structure. MSMEs, which tend to be concen- ity of jobs close to where the tinues to grow, State governments
case based on circumstantial evidence the court looks urban India? This was pointed out by FICCI way trated in specific geographic loca- skilling is conducted will also en- are not filling even sanctioned
for a cogent narrative pointing to guilt, and will not treat back in 2014 for aluminium, steel, tions. There are 1,350 modern in- hance the demand for skilling. posts in the policy and in the judi-
suspicion as proof. Few would dispute the fact that the Industrial, trade policy chemicals, capital goods, electron- dustry clusters in India and an And sixth, public investments in ciary (at all levels there are vacan-
investigation was botched up. The crime scene was un- First, an industrial and trade policy ics. This has prevented many man- additional 4,000 traditional health, education, police and judi- cies). More police and a larger judi-
protected. Hemraj’s body was not found for a whole is needed. The Department of In- ufacturing sectors from growing product manufacturing clusters, ciary can create many government ciary can both reduce crime as well
dustrial Policy and Promotion since economic reforms began. like handloom, handicraft and jobs. Public investment in the as speed up the process of justice
day. Three associates of Hemraj were suspects, but
(DIPP) is finally preparing an in- This must be corrected. other traditional single product health sector has remained even in for the ordinary citizen.
there was not much evidence to proceed. A DNA report dustrial policy. For 20 years after The automobiles sector in India group clusters. There is a cluster the last three years at 1.15% of GDP,
implicating one of them, Krishna, was dismissed as a ty- economic reforms began in 1991 faced no inverted duty structure, development programme of the despite the creation of the national
pographical error. To be fair to the CBI, it did want to there was no National Manufactur- and has thrived. India has become Ministry of MSMEs, which is poorly health policy at the beginning of Santosh Mehrotra is Professor of
close the case for want of evidence, but was forced by ing Policy, and the Policy, when it in the last decade one of the largest funded and could be better de- 2017. The policy indicates that ex- Economics and Chairman, Centre for
the court to pursue the prosecution. At the end of the came in 2011, was not even imple- producers of vehicles of several signed as well. penditure on health will rise to Informal Sector and Labour, Jawaharlal
appellate stage, it is difficult to say whether the case mented. By the time the 12th Plan kinds in the world now. Electronics But the Ministry’s total annual 2.5% of GDP only by 2025. Given Nehru University, Delhi

should never have gone to trial or that it was desirable

that the entire evidence underwent scrutiny at two
levels. Acquittal in a murder case is an injustice of sorts.
It either means the state has failed to bring home the
The legal message
guilt of the accused or that it prosecuted the wrong Removing the current marital exception to rape will also have an important signalling effect
people. Those exonerated will naturally feel vindic-
ated, but the perception of justice having been done is origins of this exception, the In- nothing else, has an important sig- forcement agencies that cases of
limited to the accused and their well-wishers. It is diffi- dian government has consistently nalling effect. In order to prove ef- marital rape should be treated as
cult to ignore the fact that the culprits who murdered resisted a change in the law. fective, such a change needs to be less serious than rape outside of
The gang rape of a 23-year-old accompanied by a deliberate at- marriage.
Aarushi are yet to be nailed and duly held to account.
student in Delhi in 2012 resulted in tempt to shift attitudes that norm-
an amendment to the criminal le- alise violence in the home. Cur- Towards justice, prevention
gislation in India, including the rently, even in cases of non-marital These perceptions among law-en-
Keen contest ahead gulika reddy definition and punishment of rape. rape, judges have suggested that forcement agencies suggest that
GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

However, the exemption of marital rape victims marry their rapist for while it is important to work to-

I
With smaller parties fading away, Himachal n the Supreme Court’s decision rape was retained, despite recom- a “happy conclusion”, which high- wards facilitating access to justice
on Wednesday, criminalising mendations by the Justice Verma lights the notion that forced sex for victims, it is crucial to simultan-
Pradesh will see a polarised campaign sex between a man and his committee. Lawmakers reacted to does not amount to rape if it takes eously focus on preventive meas-
minor wife, while the court re- its recommendation arguing: “If place within a marriage. ures. This view was reflected in a

I
t is not clear why the Election Commission an-
frained from adjudicating on the
nounced the date for Assembly elections in Hi-
larger issue of marital rape, its
machal Pradesh — a single-phase vote on November judgment made reference to the
9 — but not for Gujarat, which also needs to go to the Justice J.S. Verma committee re-
polls this winter. The EC has said that the results for Hi- commendations that explained
machal Pradesh will be declared on December 18 while why the exemption of marital rape
elections in Gujarat will be held before that date. Be that must be removed, and that a mar-
as it may, the model code of conduct has kicked in for ital or other relationship is not a
defence or justification for a lower
the hill State, which is poised for a direct contest
sentence.
between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata
Party. Himachal Pradesh has returned these parties al- Rooted in outdated notions
ternately to power for each term since the early 1990s. Consider this: 2.6 billion women
Smaller parties formed by dissidents and rebels from live in countries, including India,
the Congress and the BJP in the late-1990s and the early where marital rape is not a crime.
2010s faded away after gaining small pockets of sup- Millions of others live in countries
including the U.S., where marital
port, ensuring that this will be a clear contest between
rape is treated differently from
the two national parties. The Congress already has a other forms of rape. The unjust
headstart in the campaign, having announced that the treatment of marital rape as an ex-
83-year-old Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is its chief emption stems from three com-
ministerial candidate, while the BJP is yet to choose mon law notions: marriage consti-
between former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal tutes a contract, which includes
and Union Minister J.P. Nadda. The Congress’s proact- the woman’s irrevocable consent
to sex; a woman is the property of
ive strategy is understandable. Himachal is one of a her husband, and rape is a viola-
handful of States in the country that are ruled by the tion of a man’s property rather
party, and holding the State is important to stave off than a crime against women; and
suggestions of a decline, or possibly to hold out hope after marriage, a woman’s identity
for a revival. becomes part of her husband’s.
As a State, Himachal Pradesh is placed somewhere at Despite the outdated, problematic
the top in terms of social indices, which is reflected in its
high HDI (human development index) ranking, rate of LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
literacy and rural well-being. This is largely a con-
sequence of the welfare programmes of successive The role of godmen
State governments. The public sector, services and the Resignation to the fact that
tourism industry play vital roles in its economy. With godmen are here to stay
the lingering effects of demonetisation and the teething until social consciousness
undergoes a qualitative
issues of the goods and services tax regime casting a
change is evident in the
shadow on the economy, the Congress is keen to make three articles (‘‘Left, Right,
issues out of these in the election. It is seeking to cash in Centre’ – “Will India get
on the reported disgruntlement among traders and the over its obsession with god
small-business community, which usually favour the men?” October 13). It is an
BJP. By fielding Mr. Singh as the face of the party yet error to tar all godmen with
again, the Congress probably expects that the old net- the same brush. A majority
of them impact society in a
works of patronage fostered by the “Raja-ji” will come
positive way. Some of them
to its aid as well as to attract public support for the ex- render better service to
pansive government spending on welfare in the State. society than what even an
The BJP, on the other hand, will focus on the corruption elected government does.
cases plaguing the incumbent and as always hope that They mobilise resources
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity will over- and help the needy.
Humans want an outlet to
come misgivings on the economic front and any pos-
identify with their ‘isms’
sible friction between the Dhumal and Nadda camps. If
and passions. In India,
one were to go by recent elections, such as the closely godmen fit the bill in a way.
contested municipal polls in Shimla, there is no definite Most do not engage
wave for or against either party. The campaign may themselves in dark deals
throw up pointers on which way the winds are blowing. and are levellers between
the haves and have-nots. It
marital rape is brought under the The challenge of sticky socio- UN multi-country study on viol-
law, the entire family system will be cultural norms is not unique to In- ence in Asia-Pacific which recom-
under great stress.” A few years dia. The experience in countries mended that strategies must focus
later, we face the same debate as men object to is the violence in- such as the U.S. where marital rape on structural factors that prevent
the Delhi High Court hears a peti- volved.” She also explains that is criminalised shows that despite the incidence of rape, rather than
tion seeking the inclusion of mar- while sexual violence is “very com- changes in the law, the patriarchal focussing only on strengthening
ital rape under the existing rape mon, it is never in isolation”, and notion that marriage overrides the response mechanisms. Since
law. This inclusion too is being re- that “those who isolate penetrative legal and sexual autonomy of a wo- gender socialisation begins young,
jected by the government. Coun- sexual violence within marriage, man still exists. In 2015, U.S. Pres- the study also speaks of the need to
terintuitively, it is also being rejec- and place it on a pedestal, are obli- ident Donald Trump’s counsel Mi- focus interventions on children
ted by some women’s rights vious of the women’s social realit- chael Cohen expressed his and adolescents. This socialisation
activists, for completely different ies.” Feminist researcher Sahla ignorance about the legal possibil- is reinforced through family and
reasons. The government thinks it Aroussi made a similar critique in a ity of a man raping his wife. “You societal institutions, popular cul-
will be used as a tool to harass men, recent publication where she ex- cannot rape your spouse,” he said. ture and media. Social learning
and that it will affect the institution amines sexual violence in conflict “There’s very clear case law.” He psychologists have found that a
of marriage — an argument that and argues that a narrow focus on later corrected himself, but his disrupted home environment con-
places greater significance on mar- sexual violence ignores the multi- comment has sparked conversa- tributes to violent, anti-social be-
riage than women’s rights. plicity of suffering faced by women tion about why he made this error. haviour of a child. Therefore, in ad-
and can result in inadequate atten- Although all 50 states had enacted dition to sensitising law
Ignores realities tion being paid to their other laws against marital rape by 1993, enforcement authorities whose at-
Women’s rights lawyer Flavia Ag- needs. almost half the States still treat it titudes are merely symptomatic of
nes has other objections. She does Ms. Agnes and Ms. Aroussi are differently from rape outside of widely-held beliefs about women
not “believe in placing rape on a right that we need to ensure that marriage. In some states, marital and gender roles, we need to work
pedestal within the hierarchy of law and policy interventions do rape is a chargeable offence only if with children, parents and the lar-
crimes within a marriage. For a wo- not inadvertently trivialise non- the perpetrator uses or threatens ger community to ensure marital
man who is facing domestic viol- sexual violence and that steps are to use physical force. In others, rape is condemned, not condoned.
ence, it is equally violating if her taken to strengthen compliance proof of marriage is often an easy
skull is fractured, her spine is and implementation of laws relat- way to reduce or mitigate the con- Gulika Reddy, a human rights lawyer and
broken, her cornea is damaged, ing to all forms of violence. But we sequences of the offence. These Founder & Director of Schools of Equality,
liver is injured, or her vagina is must also recognise that removing kinds of legal distinctions legitim- is a Dubin Fellow at Harvard Kennedy
penetrated forcefully. What wo- the current marital exception, if ise the perception among law-en- School
Letters emailed to letters@thehindu.co.in must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.
Curabitur molestie. Sed vel
may not be an exaggeration improving their health tincidunt tortor. Donec neque. Proin et dolor ac crime leaves several
to say that wishing them facilities are some of the key nonummy, enim in lacinia ipsum elementum questions that are still
away will come at a high ways in which to discourage pulvinar, velit tellus malesuada. Praesent id orci. unanswered.
social cost. people from coming under scelerisque augue, ac Donec hendrerit. In hac B.B. Gurumurthy,
Sivamani Vasudevan, their spell. posuere libero urna eget habitasse platea dictumst. Madurai
Chennai
Veena Shenoy, neque. Cras ipsum. Aenean sit amet arcu a
Thane, Maharashtra Vestibulum pretium, lectus turpis posuere pretium. ■ The Talwar couple has
■ One of the main reasons nec venenatis volutpat, rushi case”, October 13). It been subject to severe
for the rise of godmen in The Aarushi case purus lectus ultrices risus, a remains a fact that the trauma not only because of
India is that the poor and The acquittal of the Talwar condimentum risus mi et young girl and the domestic the murder of their
the gullible fall prey to their couple does not close the quam. Pellentesque auctor help did not die of natural daughter but also because
tricks. A lack of education, case (“Talwars acquitted in fringilla neque. Duis eu causes. The real criminals of the grave charge of crime.
health facilities and poverty AaLorem ipsum dolor sit massa ut lorem iaculis have not been “found” and However, the real issue is
are what drive many to amet, consectetuer vestibulum. Maecenas it is strange that the officials about the flaws in
godmen who take adipiscing elit. Nam nibh. facilisis elit sed justo. involved in the investigation investigation conducted by
advantage of their Nunc varius facilisis eros. Quisque volutpat were careless so as to allow a reputed central agency
ignorance. Sed erat. In in velit quis arcu malesuada velit. the evidence to disappear and also the time taken in
Another feature of godmen ornare laoreet. Curabitur Nunc at velit quis lectus from the site. ensuring justice to the
is that they are backed by adipiscing luctus massa. nonummy eleifend. J. Eden Alexander, parents. The investigation
the elite and the political Integer ut purus ac augue Curabitur eros. Aenean Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu has to resume from scratch.
class, thus thriving on huge commodo commodo. Nunc ligula dolor, gravida auctor, Mayukh Devadas,
Thrissur, Kerala
publicity and which also nec mi eu justo tempor auctor et, suscipit in, erat. ■ It is strange that even after
gives them their power. consectetuer. Etiam vitae Sed malesuada, enim ut nearly a decade of serious
Encouraging a scientific nisl. In dignissim lacus ut congue pharetra, massa elit investigations, the
temperament across India ante. Cras elit lectus, convallis pede, ornare sensational twin murder
and targeting villages and bibendum a, adipiscing scelerisque libero neque ut case has ended with none more letters online:
tribal areas in terms of vitae, commodo et, dui. Ut neque. In at libero. the wiser. The unsolved www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/

CM A ND-NDE
YK
 https://t.me/TheHindu_Zone https://t.me/pdf4exams
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THE HINDU NOIDA/DELHI

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2017 GROUND ZERO 7

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Crimea and punishment

An alien fruit took root in India two decades ago, sparking an export-driven boom that brought overnight prosperity to thousands of farmers. But today gherkin
cultivation is in crisis, and the fingers of blame are all pointing in the direction of Crimea, reports Mohit M. Rao

M
anzoor, a farmer barely in his
20s, picks up a small prickly
fruit. He scrapes at its rough
green skin, which is covered in hair. “I
know for sure you can’t eat this,” he
says. He speaks of a “large company”,
whose local agents contacted him with
seeds, contracts and promises earlier
this year. “It is actually medicine,” he
adds, with some confidence. When he
puts it down, he washes his hands thor-
oughly, and uses a stone to exfoliate the
fingers. Pesticide, he says, corrodes the
skin, turning it rough and whitish.
Neat rows of strings and poles divide
his one acre farm into grids. Water
marks the channel in the middle, and
the creepers clinging desperately to
strings are beginning to wilt with
disease.
Manzoor is astonished to hear that
people in other parts of the world eat
the ‘medicine’ that he grows. No one
has told him that in the West, pickled
gherkin is a condiment, as common on
dining tables as pepper. Confounded,
he calls his neighbours, who have been
growing gherkins in their village
Thimmapura in Haveri district, close to
the River Tungabhadra in Central
Karnataka. They laugh. “No, it cannot
be. When our children come here, we
have to keep an eye on them. If they eat
it, they will fall sick. It fills the stomach
with gas,” says Rajappa, another young
farmer who has been growing gherkins
for the past five years.
The recent rains have transformed
the undulating plains into a quilt of
green. In these chequered fields sliced
up only by roads and irrigation canals,
rice, maize, sugarcane and millets have
been the traditional crops. It’s only over
the past decade that the gherkins have
slowly established a foothold.
But the bad news is that this season’s
crop has been washed out by un-
seasonal rains. The three gherkin crops
in a year are typically grown from April
to June, August to October, and Decem-
ber to February.
Discussing gherkins with farmers in- Bitter harvest: “Karnataka, where gherkin cultivation covers 20 out of the 30 districts, accounts for more than 60% of India’s production.” (Above): Workers in the final stages of pack gherkins with acid preservatives and
evitably leads to narratives of agrarian vinegar in Ranebennuru in Haveri district, Karnataka. (Below) The gherkin is a demanding crop; even a one-day delay in picking the fruit makes it unviable. A farm hand in Ranebennuru, Haveri district. SUDHAKARA JAIN *

distress, migrations, and failed bore

wells. Amid the vinegar flavours of gher-

kin processing centres in Karnakata’s
agro-processing zones spread across
eight districts, managers and exporters
list out their concerns. These range
from the Goods and Service Tax, which
shrinks their working capital, to the in-
ternational outrage over Russian milit-
ary aggression, to even the weather in
Vietnam. A bumper crop in that country
could affect the fortunes of the crop
back home in India, and thus the lives of
Manzoor and Rajappa.
A crop like no other
With little domestic demand, the for-
eign crop is like no other in the State,
and perhaps in the country. Seeds
sealed in neat packets are brought in all
the way from Europe. Export compan-
ies engage farmers through contracts,
and it is in the unpredictable agrarian
environs of Karnataka that the alien
fruit is birthed.
The fruit, however, undergoes a
series of chemical treatments before be-
ing shipped thousands of miles again,
with its final destination ranging from
the restaurants of Madrid to the super-
markets of Manhattan.
In the 1990s, as information techno-
logy (IT) and the outsourcing boom
transformed Bengaluru, a few hundred
kilometres away, exporters found in the
relative warmth of districts such as
Kolar and Bagepalli the perfect condi-
tions for the cultivation of gherkins. Just
like the IT boom, this one, too, was
founded on cheap labour.
For more than a decade, this sector
saw on average an annual growth rate of
20%. Export companies popped up like
mushrooms in food parks and SEZs.
While banks announced special loans,
agriculture policies dangled special in-
centives, and gherkin contract farming
spread across the State. “The gherkin
revolution has turned many impover-
ished farmers into lakhpathis,” stated a
2006 report by the Institute for Social
and Economic Change (ISEC) in 2006.
By 2014, over 1.31 lakh farmers in
southern India were engaged in gherkin
cultivation. The sector’s exports
touched ₹1,200 crore, an impressive
feat considering that a decade ago, ex-
ports were barely worth ₹180 crore.
When it was dropped into the State
two decades ago, the fruit did not have
a local name. Now it goes by the odd
term ‘medicine cucumber’. Most say
that it is a corruption of the Kannada
word, midi, meaning small. Farmers in
areas where gherkins are just making an
entry into the landscape think that the
name is on account of it being made
into medicine (some believe it cures
piles), or, perhaps, because the fruit
leaves a bitter aftertaste, like a tablet.
Karnataka, where gherkin cultivation
covers 20 out of the 30 districts, ac-
<
> IBut
used to contract 250 farmers.
due to the Russia problem
and other issues, we were
asked to cut down on acreage
as demand dipped. Now there
are 150 farmers, but they don’t
do it regularly enough.
Beeresh
A local agent
CM
YK
counts for more than 60% of India’s
production, with the neighbouring
States of Andhra Pradesh, Maharasthra
and Tamil Nadu chipping in.
Similar to the dynamics in the IT sec-
tor, where a policy announcement on
the other side of the world tends to
echo through the air-conditioned cor-
ridors of Bengaluru, the gherkin in-
dustry is also highly vulnerable to the
headwinds of global events.
The Russia problem
In 2014, parts of central Karnataka saw
copious monsoon rains even as large
parts of the State battled drought. The
perfect conditions yielded a bumper
crop. But just a few months before the
monsoons arrived, something unexpec-
ted happened: Russian soldiers took
over the courthouses and government
buildings of Crimea.
The Russian annexation of Crimea
had begun. Despite international out-
rage, a referendum was conducted.
Eventually, a pro-Russia government
was installed to govern the peninsula
where no gherkins are grown.
As Russia faced sanctions from
Europe and America, suddenly, India’s
largest importer of gherkins found itself
unable to afford the fruit. Thousands of
miles away, in nondescript villages of
Karnataka where news from the outside
world is hard to come by, company
agents were suddenly obsessed with the
“Russia crisis”.
A conversation in Hemodre, a village
in drought-prone Sira taluk near the
Andhra Pradesh border, triggers an im-
promptu gathering of curious farmers.
Beeresh, 30, the local agent, is called in
to explain the dynamics of gherkin cul-
tivation in the village.
Beeresh’s job is to talk to farmers,
perhaps even give loans (sometimes
from his own pocket), so that they shift
to gherkin cultivation. He has to ensure
enough produce to meet the targets,
which are decided by the companies
based on the export orders they have
received. The credit he gives to the
farmers is later deducted from the pay-
ments made for the gherkin produce.
“I used to contract 250 farmers. But
due to the Russia problem and other is-
sues, we were asked to cut down on
acreage as demand dipped. Now there
are 150 farmers, but they don’t do it reg-
ularly enough,” he says. With the cut in
supply, his commissions have dropped.
He is now in a debt of more than ₹2
lakh, which he hopes to pay off when
the market stabilises.
About 200 km away, in a recently re-
furbished factory that sticks out incon-
gruously in the maize and sugarcane
fields of southern Ballari district, the air
smells of the acid preservatives in which
gherkins are stored.
Srinivas R., the factory manager, ex-
plains what happened when Crimea
was annexed. In 2014-15, the factory
handled 14,000 tonnes. “We prepared
for a bumper crop, and suddenly the or-
ders dipped. The rouble had crashed,
from 38 to 83 roubles to a dollar. The
Russians were no longer able to buy
gherkins in bulk from here. We had
tonnes of gherkins with no buyers,” he
says. Within a year, the acreage sown in
the area reduced by 40%.
The setback reverberated through
company balance sheets. Exports to
Russia came down from ₹234 crore in
2014-15 to just ₹90 crore in 2016-17. Rus-
sia remains the key, for it is the only im-
porting country that takes lower-grade
gherkins which are often rejected by
European buyers.
The crisis devastated the industry. At
least five companies with significant in-
vestments — some owned by hotel, tele-
com and steel tycoons — have folded up.
“These are difficult times, compounded
by international and domestic prob-
lems,” says Mune Gowda, who heads
Exotic Agro Pvt. Ltd., and is the Treas-
urer of the Indian Gherkin Exporter's
Association. “Even the U.S. has started
importing from Mexico, while Vietnam
is catching up in gherkin production,”
he says. In the past three years, a
quarter of the gherkin farmers have
stopped production for various reasons,
estimates the association. Production
has dipped by over 70,000 metric
tonnes. Making up for the loss of the
Russian market by tapping the
European one proved difficult as the lat-
ter is choosy and has strict compliance
norms and certification requirements.
The foreigner
Domestically, cultivating gherkins
comes with its own problems. Unpre-
dictable weather takes a toll on the
crop. The gherkin itself is a demanding
crop that takes its pound of flesh from
the land on which it is sown. “It acts like
a foreigner who lives here,” says Ran-
ganath at Hemodre village. He is relat-
ively less enamoured of the cucumber.
He is not taken in by the promise of high
yields. “If the wind changes direction
for an hour, it falls sick,” he says.
Gherkins need constant care, which
isn’t easy given the harsh realities of
farming in India: monsoons are erratic
and prone to failure; rural distress has
sparked large-scale migrations and re-
duction in the availability of labour;
tropical diseases sweep across large
tracts; and groundwater reserves are
dwindling. This constant battle has
made the farmers christen the fruit kiri
kiri tarakari (irritating vegetable’) and
soutekaye savasa (‘problematic
cucumber).
A little more than a month after the
seeds are sown, gherkins pop out of the
base of the flower, yielding fruits incess-
antly for the next two months.
It is here that the trouble begins. If it
is not picked within a few hours of
flowering, it grows exponentially in size,
and for the farmers, the bigger it is, the
smaller their returns. The gherkins are
graded according to their size and there
are five grades in all. The smallest gher-
kins (160 of them can fit in a crate)
could fetch ₹32 per kilo. The biggest
(less than 30 in a crate) fetch just ₹2. If
transportation of the plucked gherkins
is delayed, up to one-third of the pro-
duce could be lost.
“We need 15 labourers a day just to
pick the fruit. Most of the youth have
gone to Bengaluru or Hyderabad for
jobs. If we delay the picking by one day,
the gherkin grows and becomes unvi-
able for us,” said 41-year-old Siddara-
meshwara in the remote Udramappana-
halli village of Sira taluk. His crop this
year has been ravaged by mildew, which
sets upon gherkins when it rains.
It’s because of these reasons that des-
pite his success with the crop in the past
10 years, he has confined gherkins to
just 0.5 acres of his 12-acre farm. As
white, stringy fungus envelops the gher-
kin, he hopes that the winter crop can
compensate for his loss. However, in the
slight chill of the winter lurks the melon
fly which, farmers say, no quantity of
pesticide can effectively contain.
More disconcertingly, the crop
guzzles water. If the field is not irrigated
daily, gherkins become shrivelled and
bent, unsuitable for export. For the 50
days or so that it flowers, farmers have
to draw water from their borewells. If
maize needs water thrice in two weeks,
the gherkin needs it every day. Maize is
grown twice a year; gherkins thrice a
year. For all the three seasons to yield
sizeable profits, it needs more than 150
days of irrigation.
The guru of gherkins
Eight years ago, it was the sight of a
group of Spaniards inspecting gherkins
in Bagepalli, just 100 km from
Bengaluru close to the Andhra Pradesh
border, that enthralled villagers. Taking
them around the clusters of gherkin vil-
lages was B. Srinivas, whose company
acted as a conduit for the bigger com-
panies and farmers. The Spaniards had
told the gherkin growers that the pro-
duce here was the best they had seen.
Having taken to the gherkin sector in
1998, it was he and a small band of
agents who persuaded farmers to try
this new crop. Agents and company fa-
cilitators propped up. Bollywood-style
films on gherkin management were
shown to farmers to attract them to the
crop. Gherkins, it was believed, could
lift the region out of poverty.
Srinivas remembers the ‘gherkin
rush’. “Farmers would line up for seeds.
We could even do large swathes of 30
acres in each village. Things were easy
back then.”
Over 1,000 acres of gherkins – a limit
constrained only by the volume of the
companies’ export orders – were sown
<
> Even
the U.S. has started
importing from Mexico, while
Vietnam is catching up in
gherkin production.
Mune Gowda
Head, Exotic Agro Pvt. Ltd.
in 2006-07. Money flowed as advances
to farmers, agents kept a steep commis-
sion from the output, and for farmers,
gherkins did translate into money.
Then the inevitable happened. By the
late 2000s, the rains started failing, and
one by one, the borewells went dry.
Groundwater dipped in places from
400 feet to more than 1,200 feet. In
places where the borewells ran through
the summer, they now stopped two
months before the rains, and later,
didn’t function even in the winter. Gher-
kins, with their immediate need for wa-
ter, were the first to be affected.
By 2011, the number of ‘red’ farmers
– those with debts – rose dramatically,
and the agents had to look farther for
suitable land, with some going as far as
Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh. “It just
didn’t work out. We would get half an
acre in one village and a couple of acres
elsewhere far away. The debts kept
rising. I had to get out,” Srinivas says.
In the hustle of the Bagepalli market,
the man who many farmers and agents
say was the guru of gherkins in the re-
gion now runs an agro-business focus-
sing only on traditional vegetables and
maize seeds. Just three agents operate
now, and struggle to cumulatively cover
50 acres.
Cycles of debt
Drought and international price fluctu-
ations have left behind a cycle of debt –
unpaid loans for field agents and gher-
kin farmers, who, in turn, have to
pledge a greater share of future gherkin
production.
In the past decade, the prices of the
seeds, all imported, went up from 6
paise to 68 paise per seed. If tomato
seeds cost ₹700 for 10,000, the cost for
gherkins is up to ₹10,000. The returns,
however, haven’t kept up. In the same
period, the price of premium gherkins
has gone up from ₹8 to ₹32 per kg.
In some areas, agents have racked up
debts of more than ₹50 lakh. Agents like
Gangappa in Bagepalli who claims to
have nearly ₹70 lakh in debt from farm-
ers in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh,
have pinned their hopes on the recent
rains that have filled up tanks. They
hope that these farmers can repay the
debt by cultivating gherkins again.
The rains have indeed given life to
the dry lands of Bagepalli, Sira and cent-
ral Karnataka, which glimmer now in
various shades of green. There is slight
optimism in the corporate offices of ex-
porters too: a steady year can blunt In-
dia’s reputation as an “uncertain” pro-
ducer that frequently misses shipment
dates. But is it possible that, somehow,
the U.S. and Russia would normalise re-
lations and bring Indian gherkins back
on Russian tables?
Well, the fruit is fickle and vulner-
able, and uncertainties loom, much like
the dark vestigial monsoon clouds that
threaten to wash out this season’s crop.
A ND-NDE