BHUBANESWAR, Thirty years back, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi laid the foundation of what was later called Yellow Revolution. The Oilseeds Technology Mission he launched in 1986 transformed India from being a major importer of edible oil to being self-sufficient in 1993-94, that is, in less than a decade. It was a remarkable achievement, indeed.
Then a downslide started. India bowed to World Trade Organisation pressures to kill its Yellow Revolution. The demise of the Yellow Revolution is a classic case of how a promising sector was sacrificed at the altar of economic liberalisation.