ASEAN Agreement and Kerala

There is less discussion about the ASEAN agreement although central government is very keen in the
implementation of the same. In this era of extreme globalization it's a fact that nobody can survive without
adaptation. India, the third largest economy in asia, also faces these problems. I am not concerned about the
world as much. ASEAN agreement is very important for India's perspective since the main objective of the
agreement is to compete with china. As it is a theory china is very strategic in it's movements. It had already
started importing it's goods to ASEAN nations. No product from any part of the world can't stand with chinese
products in terms of price. As a result with in no time china can claim a major pie in the market across the region.
If India is avoiding this fact definitely we are going to regret. Our PM states this point when any discussion
comes in this topic. But when we give permission to ASEAN nations to export their goods to India the interest of
the farmers and small traders are going to be in stake.
South India particularly Kerala are going to witness the worst effect of it since majority of it's products produced
in kerala are there in the list of the ASEAN agreement including pepper,rubber and coffee. When large scale
import takes place it will attack the goods badly. Kerala farmers are already witnessing competition from ASEAN
countries as well. Now a days farmers are facing bad times. Majority of them had stopped farming and migrated
to gulf countries. The rest is living by putting their lives on stake. The farmer suicide had lost it news capacity in
kerala. ASEAN agreement will do no good to them.
But bad weather and indiscriminate use of land are two major problems. Apart from that UPA governments
proposed food security bill is another factor that paved way for ASEAN agreement. India is slowly emerging as a
services hub, as a result we are not producing anything. If we Consider these as facts the ASEAN agreement is
a good step froward in the right direction. By importing food and other items government can control the price
hike. But government should also consider the interests of the poor farmers and small scale traders also. In
kerala they already started protesting against the agreement. State and central governments should consider
these issues seriously and should save farmers from suicide.
Minimum price guarantee and good subsidies are the two measures that can be taken in this regard. State
policies should be infavour of farmers and also some pressure to be imposed on the centre to protect farmers of
the state.

Pramod Thomas