Dr. Richharia's story

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Dr. Richharia's story - Crushed, but not defeated

continued, part 2 of 2
click here for part 1

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So they retired you permanently?

They game me three months notice in 1966 when the CRRI was being transferred under the ICAR, i.e., on March 31, 1966. Naturally the three months' notice was handed over to me on January 1, so that I would not be able to opt for ICAR although I had filled up my option form for working under the ICAR after March 31, 1966, as I was aware of the fact that being the senior most, next to next director general, I would take over as the next director general.

So my advocate who had filed a case at the Orissa High Court against the ICAR and Government of India (ministry of food and agriculture) argued, that ‘you should give the reason why you have asked my client (Dr Richharia) to retire in such a hurry. What wrong was being done to the nation if he was allowed to continue a few months more, and retire honourably’. They had no answer. There were two aspects to my case—with one stone you kill two birds—if I retire on that particular date, their man, Dr Swaminathan, becomes the director general. Second, if I am removed, then they were free to introduce high yielding varieties of rice of any type and in any way they liked.

Two years, three years, the fourth and more passed by. I had to leave Cuttack. How long could I continue in that institute in the director's bungalow? After a certain time they would charge penal rent and take police action. At one stage, water connections were stopped and I was humiliated in many ways which I do not wish to narrate. So my advocate advised me to leave that place and go home, when it became intolerable.

So I appealed to my advocate that he must tell the Chief Justice of the great injustice that is being done to me by the opposite parties in delaying returns. At that time there were three dates fixed for the case. I had to go to Cuttack and at one stage nothing was left with us.

So I asked my wife what we should do. We had to maintain our children also. They had sent me word that if we withdrew the case, they would allow me to go to FAO. She said, ‘Please yourself, but let me tell you one thing. If you go away, people will say that Dr Richharia must have been involved in some corruption. That is why in the end he reconciled, withdrew the case and went to FAO. So many corrupt people go to FAO’. I agreed with her.

So I accepted my wife's advice, and took a State Bank loan again, went to Cuttack for three weeks, paid the advocate his fees and the advocate explained my case to the Chief Justice. Notice was then issued to the Government of India and ICAR that by a certain time, the desired information should be returned. Then finally they sent the replies. We do not consider Dr Richharia to be a scientist and therefore we asked him to retire from ICAR. Yes sir, ICAR did not consider Dr Richharia to be a scientist and therefore did not like to accept his option! I won the case. They were not justified in giving me three months' notice.

Then naturally the judgement had to be implemented. They called me there at CRRI. I refused. Then they especially sent papers to me for my signature at Bhopal. Then I took over as director, and on the other side I handed over charge. I said I will not join now. All my papers were locked. When I handed over charge and proceeded on leave, I said to Padmanabhan, who took over charge from me, that for one month I will work in this room. He agreed and said: "Yes sir, you can work".

The next morning when I went to the institute, my room was double locked. All my research materials and scientific papers were confiscated. I have not got them till today.

When did the MP government ask you to start the Rice Research Institute?

In 1971, I joined as agricultural advisor and I continued and built up this rice germplasm bank at Raipur in Chhatisgarh (MP), so that it soon had the richest material available including that from Abhujmad of Bastar.

Tell me how did this second institute also get shut down? Why was the World Bank interested and what was Swaminathan's role in this?

Swaminathan was already interested in the IRRI and then he was made secretary and vice-chairman of the ICAR. So all these projects on rice, including the departments, were all under him. They wanted to collect all the rice material. Through the ICAR, they were collecting rice types from various places and through the ICAR, they were collecting rice types from various places and through the CRRI, Cuttack, functioning under the ICAR.

Then they came to me. I said, I am not going to part with the material until I study it: how can I pass on something about which I know nothing?

One or two persons from ICAR came and met me personally. They said, "What objection do you have to parting with your material when they also want to give you some in exchange? The IRRI representative had also very tactfully told me that they wanted material in exchange. I had made it clear to them that we were not interested in their material as it would come from the virus belt, whereas my rice material represents resistance. By that time I had already given out disease and pest resistant rice types in Chhattisgarh, the rice bowl of MP.

Was the ICAR chief in league with the IRRI?

He was behind it all, because he held all the power—how it will be organised, how much will remain with the CRRI, how half will go to Delhi and from there to the IRRI. He was the all in all. Moreover he was the secretary to the government and also the director general of the ICAR. He knew everything about India's food secrets and all its statistics. He was taken there to take advantage of his knowledge and experience on India's food policy. He knew all about our rice wealth. Where the material is, and who are the people working on it etc.

So the institute was shot down?

I did not refuse point-blank to part with my indigenous rice germplasm. I said, ‘I’ll certainly give you the material after I have studied it’. And I did give a few samples to them including some dwarf varieties which I had collected and bred. I told the scientist from IRRI who came especially to see me for this purpose, that if my rice material can do good to the South east Asian countries, do take it—on one condition, that whatever investigations you do with my material, you must send me a copy of the results achieved with special reference to dwarfing genes. They took the material but they never sent me the information.

I have been fighting to show that we have got better material in India where rice originated. They agree, and in their books they have mentioned the work of the MPRRI. That is why they wanted to get this material. They used to come at least once in two years to see my work at Raipur and nothing remained hidden. They therefore, wanted to get this material. They hoped that after the amount of suffering caused by them, I would have learnt a lesson, so they approached me to forward the material.

Then they learnt that I had not changed, and I was not happy to part with the material because neither had they financed the MPRRI nor the ICAR. It was the state government that had financed it and also my age old efforts. So I said, no objection, I'll part with this material after I have researched it. They felt I was not coming round. They also knew that there was something in my material, which is now in charge of technical staff trained by them for the purpose.

So they thought of plan, going well out of their way. I am sure the government never put up any scheme like this. They said, we will give Rs. 4 crores (naturally through some recognised agency, here it was the ‘World Bank’) for continuing rice research but since there will be a duplication of research work because of MPRRI activities, that institute should be stopped. Underlying aim being to grab all the material first in the germplasm form, simultaneously replacing it by susceptible material (dwarfs), thus creating scope for the consumption of pesticides manufactured by their companies.

They felt that if I continue with my work, I would introduce my indigenous rice HYVs. This they had to block, and they succeeded in depriving me of my material and records and rendered me helpless. They will now spread that objectionable and susceptible rice material all over India to reduce rice production.

Dr Richharia, was there a credible alternative to increasing rice production in India? You have spoken of the Adivasis and their techniques. Did your people also have their own ideas?

I had proposed that hybrid vigour exploitation is possible in India, by utilising vegetative propagation technology which constituted a direct challenge to the dwarf plant type technology concept. But the energy and intellect of our rice scientists was wasted and now attempts are being made to channelise their energy through other futile lines. That HYV dwarfs are no good has been proved beyond doubt and there are authoritative recommendations on this subject.

What next? Well, I think the plant breeders of India are free to go ahead in their own way and develop their own methods; so they (IRRI) have worked out another strategy which involves exploitation of hybrid vigour in India, on which I have been working for years and which I have been working for years and which I have developed. They suggested using male sterile lines, as done in China. To develop stable male sterile lines and restorer systems is not an ordinary business. It requires time and good material and yet success is not assured, and at the same time, it will not be possible to maintain such quality varieties as Basmati with the same aroma and increased productivity. Basmati must also have male sterile lines. It may be possible, it may not, but all these scientists must work only to find out whether you get it or not, thus diverting their attention and energy from their own line of work.

On the other hand, I said, why don't you exploit the hybrid vigour through clonal propagation which insures the economic production of crossed seeds from F1 plans for full normal crop from the F2 population (hybrid vigour persists in later generations also).

We would be committing a big mistake if we import those lines from China as it will involve a big risk as was done with TN 1 and IR 8. And I doubt if those lines would thrive well under variable Indian agro-climactic environments. It will be indeed unfortunate if we get our scientists involved in that exotic material instead of our own indigenous types. But my question is, why are we not taking this seriously?

Source : The Illustrated Weekly of India, March 23, 1986

Pages on this website relevant to seeds, genetic materials and related issues :

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Hybrid seeds

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Indian farmers rediscover advantages of traditional rice varieties

Biopiracy

Genetically modified seeds and other organisms

About Monsanto

Global centres of biodiversity

Bt cotton

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