LETTERS Issn 0012-9976

Ever since the fi rst issue in 1966, EPW has been ’s premier journal for How to Feed a Billion? eat. While the latter can be a cause of the comment on current affairs former, it is but one of the many possible and research in the social sciences. causes. It succeeded Economic Weekly (1949–1965), ith reference to the editorial, which was launched and shepherded by Sachin Chaudhuri, W “Who Is Accountable for Starvation Sen explains starvation as a result of who was also the founder-editor of EPW. Deaths?” (EPW, 4 August 2018), I fi nd the entitlement failure, wherein entitlements As editor for 35 years (1969–2004) Krishna Raj most striking feature of India to be its of a person are the set of alternative gave EPW the reputation it now enjoys. dichotomy: The country is perennially bundles of commodities over which they Editor unable to feed its populace despite plenty have command. GOPAL GURU of food stock. While hunger is defi ned In India, it is fashionable to view any Executive Editor Lina Mathias as the body’s urge to replenish its food welfare scheme as an end in itself with- stores, starvation is the severe defi ciency out any focus on implementation. In SENIOR Assistant editorS lubna duggal in caloric energy intake, and prolonged fact, articulation is often accomplishment INDU K starvation makes a person vulnerable to enough for most of our policymakers. Sunipa Dasgupta curable ailments owing to severe mal- The editorial has rightly pointed out that copy editorS jyoti shetty nutrition. These conditions ultimately there is a need to improve the system of Tejas Harad lead to death by starvation, even implementation of entitlements provided Assistant editor though the proximate cause seems to be by the government. Bureaucracy is not Nachiket kulkarni a medical one. enough. What is urgently required is ASSISTANT Editor (DIGITAL) Famines occur swiftly and receive periodic social audits of all food security SHIREEN AZAM instant attention, but endemic hunger as well as income-generating schemes. editorIAL Assistant JEMIMAH GOMES and starvation work silently and arouse Above all, strict vigilance and involve- production our consciousness only when starvation ment of the public is crucial to ensure u raghunathan deaths are reported in the media. Re- actual reach and effective implementation suneethi nair grettably, bureaucrats—and sometimes of entitlements, and ultimately, food Circulation MANAGER B S Sharma even professionals—defi ne starvation security to all. simply as “no intake of food.” If the post- Jaydev Jana Advertisement Manager Kamal G Fanibanda mortem of the victim shows the pres- General Manager & Publisher ence of some grains of food in the stomach, Gauraang Pradhan the allegation of “death due to starva- Somnath Chatterjee CONSULTANT (PublishING) tion” is vehemently denied and we are (1929–2018) K Vijayakumar forced to accept it as common “disease- editorial: [email protected] Circulation: [email protected] related mortality.” ew political leaders, not having held Advertising: [email protected] In the colonial era, there was a refusal Fany high executive position—as chief Economic & Political Weekly to acknowledge issues of hunger, starva- minister in a state or union cabinet min- 320–322, A to Z Industrial Estate Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel tion and even famine. Unfortunately, such ister—have been remembered as fondly, Mumbai 400 013 a culture of denial permeates even the or by so many, as was Somnath Chatterjee, Phone: (022) 4063 8282 present administration, albeit in milder on his death at the age of 89. Silent EPW Research Foundation and more disguised forms. Simply put, mourners from all walks of life assem- EPW Research Foundation, established in 1993, conducts denial is a defence mechanism. To quote bled spontaneously to pay their last research on fi nancial and macro-economic issues in India. Director Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, an American– respects to him in Kolkata; they were J DENNIS RAJAKUMAR Swiss psychiatrist, “Denial can be con- not the ones “arranged” by any political C 212, Akurli Industrial Estate Kandivali (East), Mumbai 400 101 scious or unconscious refusal to accept party. Let me recount a few incidents to Phones: (022) 2887 3038/41 facts, information, or the reality of portray this gentleman, whose public [email protected] the situation.” life has already been widely discussed. Sameeksha TrusT The proverbial visitors from Mars may After I was inducted as a joint secre- (Publishers of Economic & Political Weekly) Board of Trustees scratch their heads and wonder why a tary in the newly created department of Deepak Nayyar, Chairman country that boasts of self-suffi ciency in disinvestment, the fi rst major public sector D N Ghosh, Managing Trustee André Béteille, Deepak Parekh, food production, accounts for the highest unit was privatised in 2001, causing an Romila Thapar, Rajeev Bhargava, numbers of people suffering from hun- uproar that continued until the process Dipankar Gupta, Shyam Menon ger and starvation. This paradox may was fi nally approved by the Supreme Printed and published by Gauraang Pradhan, for and fi nd an explanation in Nobel laureate Court. The government had been attacked on behalf of Sameeksha Trust and printed at Modern Arts and Industries, 151, A–Z Industrial Estate, Amartya Sen’s argument: in Parliament, and case after case fi led in Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai–400 013 and published at 320–322, A–Z Industrial Estate, Starvation is characteristic of some people the higher courts against this decision. Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai–400 013 Chatterjee was spearheading the attack Editor: Gopal Guru (Editor responsible for not having enough food to eat. It is not char- selection of news under the PRB Act) acteristic of there being not enough food to in the , as a leader of the

4 SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 vol lIii no 37 EPW Economic & Political Weekly LETTERS (Marxist)— be performed. But, he was ever careful In 2008, he faced the greatest crisis CPI(M). Because I had known him per- not to hurt anyone’s religious beliefs. in his term as speaker of the lower sonally (a close relative had married Chatterjee had a well-developed sense house. On the issue of a trust motion on within his family), some of my colleagues of humour. About one lawyer appointed the nuclear deal, he was torn between and superiors began to doubt my loyalties, as a judge, he commented: “He has now confl icting emotions: loyalty to his causing a great deal of personal embar- become eligible to pay income tax!” party or to the constitutional ideals. He rassment. But, never during this process On another occasion, he once said: chose the latter and paid a heavy price, of privatisation, or later, did he ever ask “I can tolerate everything other than as everyone knows. What is not so well me for even a bit of information, public ‘uncorrect’ English!” known is that he decided to consult or private. In fact, this topic was never In his later years, Chatterjee used to his mentor, , who was then discussed between us. We were both watch news channels and Bengali tele- out of power. Basu, as we heard then, playing our roles: he, an astute parlia- vision serials. His eclectic taste made had supported what Chatterjee thought mentarian diligently following his party him appreciate even the most ordinary of proper, but also cautioned him about line, and I, a professional civil servant soaps. He loved talking with younger the consequences. Basu could not become adhering to my svadharma. What mat- people, often of his grandchildren’s age, India’s Prime Minister, bowing to his tered most was personal integrity, from evincing a child-like curiosity about their party’s wishes; Chatterjee decided to which grew mutual respect. Our rela- preferences, dreams and future. In his follow his own light. This act of cour- tionship began to deepen thereafter. love for football, in particular, and sports age put him on a high pedestal of Chatterjee had been a brilliant student, in general, he was often as enthusiastic as constitutional propriety. His summary having studied in a reputed Bengali- a college student, often watching inter- expulsion from the -led medium school. Born into an aristocratic national matches late through the nights. party hurt him deeply, but he bore the family, he could have been admitted Age did not diminish his wit or interest pain stoically. anywhere. But in the Bengal of those in life. These traits must have endeared After his term ended in 2009, he was, days, steeped in nationalist tradition, him to people of all hues. I believe, sounded to be the governor of an the richest and brightest preferred such Because of his intellectual stature, he important state (in West or South India), institutions. He read economics at Presi- could easily relate to younger offi cers, or be nominated as a member of the dency College, and later law at Jesus especially those in the Indian Adminis- Rajya Sabha, among others. He declined College, Cambridge. He was successful trative Service, always encouraging these politely. He retired to his newly built as a barrister and would also take pride their efforts, and fulsome in his praise. home near Santiniketan hoping that in in his father, N C Chatterjee’s achieve- As speaker, but even earlier, as chairman the evening of his life, he would devote ment as the fi rst Indian to stand fi rst in of the Industrial Develop- himself to reading Tagore and working for Class 1 of the bar examination. His auto- ment Corporation, his skilled leadership the deprived people around. His health biography Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of in dealing with his lieutenants ensured condition did not allow this wish to be a Parliamentarian recounts the proud that he was loved and respected by fulfi lled. The death of his beloved elder moment in N C Chatterjee’s life when the bureaucrats. daughter, a few months earlier, was a upon his return to India, Ashutosh As a constitutionalist, he jealously shattering experience from which he Mukherjee came to receive him at the guarded the primacy of Parliament could hardly recover. Howrah station. and as an ace lawyer, did not shy away Fifty years after he took the plunge Chatterjee’s wealthy background was from criticising some decisions of the into public life, the life of one of India’s often taken advantage of by his oppo- higher judiciary. I remember, he was most distinguished Lok Sabha speakers, nents in electoral politics. But people in once very unhappy at the manner in since the days of G V Mavalankar, has Bengal knew of his sacrifi ce, of his having which the enquiry against former Justice ebbed away. to abandon a successful legal practice Asok K Ganguly was handled. One Amitabha Bhattacharya for a larger calling. And except for one person for whom he had high regard Delhi instance, never was he failed by the was Fali Nariman. grateful electorate. His urbane civility, His performance as a parliamentarian, allegiance to Rabindranath Tagore as having been returned to the Lok Sabha much as to Karl Marx, his “Bengaliness” 10 times, has been considered as among and gentle disposition, made him equally the best. His speeches and interventions available at at ease with leading intellectuals and were far above ordinary. How much ordinary individuals. these speeches, although diligent and in Gyan Deep His atheism stemmed from his convic- accordance with his party line, infl uenced Near Firayalal Chowk, tions, and not out of any Marxist dogma government policies and programmes Ranchi 834 001 or fashion. He left instructions that his remains a question. Still, there is not an body be donated for medical purposes, iota of doubt that he gave his heart and Ph: 2205640 (0651) and that no religious ceremony was to soul to his work as a parliamentarian.

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6 SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 vol lIii no 37 EPW Economic & Political Weekly