Skip to main content

Aam Aadmi Party fever catches up with NRI supporter of Modi, imitates AAP for his "corporate" campaign

By Our Representative
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) virus appears to have taken over, among others, non-resident Indian lobbyists for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the US. California-based Mahesh Patel, who introduced himself as chairman of the Indo-American Farmers’ Coalition (IAFC), who met Modi a few days back at a farmers’ event in Gujarat, wore a cap similar to the one put up by AAP all over India while addressing Gujarat mediapersons at Hotel Harriet in Ahmedabad, even as expressing the hope that his efforts to reestablish linkages with Gujarat farmers would begin after meeting Modi in the next couple of days.
Patel not just wore an AAP-type cap. Interestingly, the non-resident Indian took the clue of his new project from AAP – he called it “Aam Aadmi Roti Abhiyan.” On display were samples to be distributed for the campaign. The press invite sent to journalists, too, said the NRI’s main effort in India is to answer questions to the “Aam Aadmi’s roti.” Hoping to be heard by Modi, even as adorning AAP-type cap, he said, “I will start my effort towards providing food security from Gujarat, where a huge Rs 11,400 crore worth of foodgrains are wasted during distribution.” A handout given to mediapersons quoted sources to say that Gujarat is No 2 state in India in “wasting vegetables.”
Patel said, he proposes to “involve” private firms in the US to set up “one food processing unit in each of the 729 districts of the country, even as forming a nationwide chain of “farm to consumer shop” through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) at an investment of about US $2.5 billion and the SPV will enter into “crop development contract” with the local “farmers’ crop development cooperatives”. “The contract will provide for procurement of agriculture produce from the farmers at a pre-determined affordable rate and offering the producers share in profit earned through value addition made in the produces”, he said.
Answering a flurry of questions, Patel said, he would “seek” government support for public-private partnership (PPP) of the project, though at the same said declared, “We will not live on government subsidy.” He insisted, “We are an NGO. We will facilitate PPP, but directly invest. Wanting the Government of India to “amend” the new food security Act, Patel said, instead of providing foodgrains under food security, the poor should be provided with “prepared food” – which his chair of foodshops will facilitate. His proposal includes providing Aam Aadmi roti at Rs 2 for five chapatis!
“Working as a corporate body, the SPV will also develop infrastructure and sales-marketing network for distribution and marketing of the farm produce, while the cooperative bodies will look after the backward integration aimed at supply of farm produces”, he said, claiming, “Apart from NRIs from the US, we hope to rope in UNO, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and NABARD are supposed to be partner in the project execution. Implementation of such project in India can also help a lot in successful implementation of food security bill.”
“We have already made a representation in this regard to some policymakers including the Chairman of Economic Advisory Council of Prime Minister D. C Rangarajan and will take the issue with the Gujarat chief minister in due course. We hope that our initiative will go a long way in improving the conditions of the farmers and the poor in India,” he said. He claimed, he “did not belong to any political party” amidst murmurs that he has “actively participated” in Overseas Friends of BJP meeting in the past.

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk  A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.