drought in Andhra Pradesh is as gigantic as
After a
it is in Karnataka or Gujarat there is no com-
parison between the assistance provided to
these states and Andhra. This is where the
States are at the mercy of the Centre. The
Congress(I) government at New Delhi, while
playing the dirty politics in a calamitous
situation like this, does not seem to realise
that it is only playing with the lives of the
poor masses.
The NTR government on the other hand,
has been merely accusing the Centre for not
providing adequate finances for drought
relief while it has itself failed to use the
limited' resources to tackle the drought pro-
blem. For example, the lakhs and crores of
money spent on the Mahanadu, Film
Festival, beautification of city, etc, could
have been spent on improving drinking water
facilities in the city. Had there been a
political will and genuine concern for the
drought-affected the government could have
easily convinced the Tirupathi Devastana
Committee to divert the Rs 6 crore spent for
an i m p o r t e d diamond crown to Lord
Venkateswara. But under the NTR govern-
ment, it appears, gods have priority over
people. Of course, Rama Rao himself thinks
that he is a representative of god and it is
his right to rule the Telugu people as he likes.
The Rs 2 a kilo rice scheme is the only
saving grace. But there are a number of
maladies in its implementation. As the state
government realised that the Centre was
planning to sabotage the state government
using its grip over the purse the latter went
on modifying the scheme in order to save
as much money as possible. Initially NTR
said that all the families whose annual
income does not exceed Rs 6,000 would get
25 kg rice per month. W i t h this yardstick
the government issued 10 million green cards
in the state. These cards covered 30 per cent
of all families. To cover the 10 million
families the government was to procure
2,25,500 tons of rice involving an expen-
diture of Rs 400 crore per annum. In order
to cut the expenditure, after one year, the
government raised the bogey of bogus cards
and in an unscrupulous operation of
officialdom three million green cards were
cancelled. Even in drought-affected areas
there was no new enrolment. As a result
several families of marginal and small
farmers whose income then was considered
to be above Rs 6,000 per annum but became
migrant labourers because of drought have
no way of obtaining the rice. In fact because
of increased corruption and black marketing
about '1/3 of the rice quota does not reach the
villages at all. While this is the fate of the
rice scheme, the prices of other essential
commodities have increased 100-120 per cent
during NTR's rule. Thus, the much publi-
cised Rs 2 a kilo rice scheme is no longer
doing wonders.
As has been discussed cattle are the most
affected by drought. But the government has
hardly taken up any relief measures. It is also
unfortunate that no parliamentary party has
come out with any proposal for cattle
912
rehabilitation. Only one revolutionary group
published a booklet entitled "Prabhutusamu
Shrustinchina Karuvu-Nivarankai Foradandi"
(The Drought Created by the Government
Fight for Relief) in which some measures
were suggested to save the cattle. The same
group has organised dharnas in front of
Ananthapur Collector's office. The Col-
lector promised to start at least one 'mass
OBITUARY
S Kumarasundaram
H T Parekh
S K U M A R A S U N D A R A M was one member
of that team, dedicated, brilliant, innova-
tive, helpful, which made I C I C I a true
development financial institution for i n -
dustrial growth. He was an economist in the
Reserve Bank of India for 15 years before
he joined I C I C I in 1963. James Raj knew
him and he recommended him as suitable
for I C I C I in a senior capacity. In the growth
and rise to fame of I C I C I , his contribution
was solid and definitive, if somewhat un-
obtrusive. He was a valued colleague, single-
minded in the performance of his duties and
widely respected in the organisation as well
as outside by clients and the business
community. His deep allround experience in
I C I C I shaped him into the role of a profes-
sional business executive.
He served in various capacities in I C I C I
and rose to be Joint Managing Director, the
number two position. He resigned from
I C I C I in 1982, after a service of almost 20
years. I came to know him closely for about
12 years but my relationship remained close
even after my retirement from I C I C I till his
life ended suddenly and prematurely on
May 11. His involvement in the affairs of
I C I C I was complete and wholehearted. He
had to deal increasingly with sick industrial
units and industries and he amassed a wealth
of valuable experience in that complex field.
I C I C I has published several monographs
of high quality during its existence of now
over 30 years. Kumarasundaram wrote, in my
view, one of the best of them under the title
"Problem Projects and Their Rehabilitation:
I C I C I Experience". Therein he brought out
lucidly ICICI's efforts to rehabilitate sick
units financed by I C I C I along with other
institutions. Though published in 1977, this
publication deserves attention even today as
it puts in perspective the variety of trouble-
spots in industry and how they react on each
other and the efforts required to be made
to rehabilitate such units, some with success
and some unsuccessfully. Had Kumara-
sundaram been spared to us, I would have
liked him to write on industrial sickness
keeping in mind the number of subsequent
developments in the financial world with
which he remained in close touch. The
growth of merchant banking, of equipment
leasing, the formation of new finance com-
panies and other developments have added
a new dimension to the problems of re-
habilitation of industrial units, large and
cattle feed centre' at each Mandal.
few days, the chief minister announced that
the government is going to provide free
fodder in the drought-affected districts. But
nothing concrete has been done so far. In
fact, in most of the drought-affected villages
the small and marginal farmers have sold out
their cattle and hence nobody knows how
they will sow seeds if there are rains this year.
small. The fast-changing financial market
and the widening nature of new institutions
are providing new opportunities and creating
new challenges for all to show their in-
novativeness and creativity.
After leaving I C I C I Kumarasundaram
became Chairman of the Advisory Commit-
tee of. the Chartered Bank and he left that
high position to assume Chairmanship and
Chief Executiveship of the Bank of Madura
where he played a dynamic role.
Kumarasundaram was a man of low pro-
file, almost a shy, unpretentious person. He
sought no publicity. He put his soul into
whatever he did. His writings are marked by
clarity of thought and expression. His
genuineness, simplicity and integrity brought
him allround respect and regard. I re-
member, as a nominee of I C I C I on the
Board of National Rayon during a critical
period he showed extraordinary courage and
determination in dealing with the situation
and took a firm stand against those who
managed the company.
Kumarasundaram was a frequent contri-
butor to Economic and Political Weekly on
subjects in which he had specialised, viz,
balance of payments, economic controls, the
Indian financial system, equipment leasing,
corporate take-overs, and related issues.
While some were written under his name, I
believe he contributed more often. His grasp
of economic problems was sound. His
writings were excellent in content as well as
style.
He took a keen interest in the I M C
Economic Research and Training Founda-
tion and made a valuable contribution to its
work. He prepared a keynote paper for a
Seminar in 1982 on "Exchange Control in
India" where he argued for simplification
of the exchange control system in India. The
paper deserves to be read even today. He
had also prepared a paper jointly with
N J Jhaveri of I C I C I entitled "Attracting
Investments to India from the Gulf Coun-
tries: Some Issues" for a Colloquium on
" G u l f Oil Countries and India: Trade and
Investments" sponsored jointly by the I M C
Research Foundation and I C R I E R in
November 1983.
Time takes its own toll but it is sad to
think that a promising career has been cut
short when it still had so much of its best
to contribute.