Kamal Taori, now Kamalanand, Faces the Wrath of the Vested Interests

Gopal Misra

Kamal Taori, who has been a weather-beaten civil servant, is now in his new avatar as Swami Kamalanand, perhaps, to reassert his agenda for transforming present day agriculture into an eco-friendly mode.

Taori’s decision to become an ascetic could be an attempt to project that his agenda is not for any material or political profit, but to promote the cause of chemical-free cultivation. Thus, he may now be a lone warrior opposing the imports of chemical fertilizers and insecticides. He is now betraying the rare courage by his refusal to be cowed down by the formidable lobby of this business, where stakes are in billions of the US dollars.

During his years in the service, he was involved in the promotion of the Khadi business in the UP Government and later as the chief executive of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission in Mumbai. He is remembered for promoting handmade paper.

Being an ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi, during his tenure in the coveted IAS, as well as after being superannuation as a Secretary to the Union Government,he continued in his agenda of promoting Gandhi ji’s eco-friendly economic model of the rural industries and agriculture.

The high point of his career,  perhaps, was his brief stay in the Planning Commission, where his proposal for inducting information technology in rural development was approved by the then Deputy Chairman of the Commission,K.C. Pant, a postgraduate in Physics and one of the enlightened political leaders in India.

Kamal Taori now Swami Kamalanand

Angers Powers that Be – It is not surprising that Swami Kamlanad’s support for rural industries and farmers’ empowerment programme, has invoked wrath among the international producers of chemical fertilizers as well as the local players, engaged as the distributors of this huge business having the patronage of the political bosses. The successive governments have successfully unleashed the subsidy models!; all this being promoted for befooling the farmers and the consumers.

It is estimated that India has imported chemical fertilizers from Russia (2.73 USD Billion), Saudi Arabia (2.46 B), China (2.18 B), Morocco (1.74 B) and Oman (1.26B) in 2024. Apart from these imports, and in spite of much noise regarding the use of the biological fertilizers, the Modi Government had imported 31 millions tonnes of Urea at a whooping cost of Rs. 38,000 crores last year. It may be noted that the imports could meet only 20 percent of the domestic requirement. In other words, the consumption of Urea is much larger than is being talked about.

Interestingly, he has continued his agenda of promoting local and eco-friendly industries even after his superannuation.During his long innings in the service and also later in the post retirement years, he has continued his  advocacy in this sector with zeal.

Noticing Neo-colonial Agenda 

For him, his intense campaigning and advocacy of the ingenious cows, Indian seeds and the promotion of Khadi has been a part of the anti-colonialism well seeded in the Gandhian perception of the world. According to some independent studies in the 21st century, the world economy is likely to be controlled and managed by a few corporations. Even in the contemporary world the arms manufacturers in the US are being seen setting up the agenda of war and peace, he points out. He further suggests that modern technologies should be integrated in the eco-friendly rural economy.

According to him, unless the grass-root initiatives could be blended with the growth of the information technology and the artificial intelligence, the world will be enslaved by the powerful multinational corporations, now penetrating the rural sector.

He admits that perhaps, in this context, he might be annoying the vested interests worldwide. They are making huge profits in this crucial sector.

He told the Financial World recently that his advocacy might have failed in rescripting the contemporary approach, but he is optimistic about his prolonged efforts spanning the past four decades, now appears to have crystallized in recent years. It may be a humble beginning, but it could be a unique blending of the traditional knowledge with the modern technologies.

Ridiculed, Advocacy Continues -Many always considered, a young Kamal Toeri, a utopian, a dreamer, his peers in the coveted Indian Administrative Service always undermined him. They believed that by shedding off the colonial protocols, he is considered a continuous embarrassment for not adhering to the etiquette of the coveted positions he held in the vast administrative system of India inherited from the British days, He, according to his peers, should have adhered to the etiquette of the colonial past, his colleagues continue to retain even today.

It  has never been confirmed, but it is believed that the continuation of the civil services established during the colonial era was one of the conditions of the transfer of power in 1947 to the Indian hands. It had also included the partition of India on communal lines.

Interestingly, Kamal Taori, who was born in a middle class family at Wardha in Maharashtra, has always been known for thinking different from his peers. Much to the opposition of his family, he enrolled himself as a short-service commission officer to fight for democracy during the 1971 Bangladesh war. It must have been surprising that a youth from a prosperous business family, also a devout Gandhian, decided to wear the uniform. Later, when the war was over, he qualified in the IAS, and got UP cadre. Later, he was shifted to the Uttarakhand cadre.

Health Hazard– Another reason for opposing the unrestricted use of the fertilizers such as Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium is due to the growing incidences of cancer in the states like Punjab, Haryana and Western UP. These regions are known for achieving green revolution., but the leaders of the so-called green revolution are facing multiple health hazards including cancer,birth detects and infection in lungs, liver, kidney and even neurological challenges.

It is difficult to foresee any substantial success in discouraging the use of chemicals in the agricultural sector., but we may soon be witnessing intense political circus offering subsidies to the hapless farmers.

Gopal Misra has been associated with national and international media. His books on journalism and geo-politics have been well-appreciated. Views are personal.