In this Idea Exchange moderated by Senior Assistant Editor Maneesh Chhibber, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda talks about his development agenda, revamping the Congress and the state?s water dispute with Delhi
Maneesh Chhibber: You won a second term as chief minister of Haryana. To what would you attribute your victory?
It?s not easy to secure a second term in Haryana. It is the first time since 1972 that the same party has returned to power for a second consecutive term, and the same person has become the chief minister. Congress won a second term because of one reason alone?people are now voting for development. Our target has been inclusive development in all areas, from infrastructure to sports. In per capita income, we are among the top states and we are at the top in per capita investment?in 2005, when I took over, we were number 14, now we are number one. In agriculture, both in production and productivity?wheat productivity, to be specific?we are the leader. When I took over, the political atmosphere was such that everybody was fearful, they were not ready to invest. The law and order situation was poor and there was no development. Also, you can judge a state?s development by its Plan outlay. The Plan outlay of Haryana when I took over was around R2,300 crore. Seven years later, I have presented a Plan budget of R26,000 crore. This is because of inclusive development. I do not consider spending on education an expenditure, I call it investment. This is the future. The world has become very small, and I think the real competition lies in education. We have also invested heavily in human resources. I have to make people employable as I create employment opportunities.
Maneesh Chhibber: What steps did you take to encourage investment in Haryana and to instill confidence in investors?
To start with, I introduced a new industrial policy and I created an atmosphere in the state for investment.
Shekhar Gupta: You are credited with breaking the cycle of vendetta and counter-vendetta in Haryana. You did not file any cases against your rivals.
My agenda has no room for vendetta. When people practise political vendetta, they waste their time, they suffer.
Shekhar Gupta: How tough was it not to play vendetta politics because there must have been pressure from within your party?
Yes, I was under pressure. But I think I was right in choosing development over political vendetta. My party colleagues were unhappy with me?some people said that if Om Prakash Chautala had come to power, he would have put me in jail so why was I sparing him? My response was that the CBI is doing its job, I do not have time for this.
D K Singh: You have spoken about a Kamaraj Plan for today?s Congress. How will a Kamaraj Plan help the party?
I do not want to reveal what I said within the party. But revamping the party and the government would help the country. The Kamaraj Plan of 1962 came after the Chinese war when the party and the government were somewhat demoralised. Kamaraj gave a call to all ministers and chief ministers, and many of them resigned. At the moment, we have a situation in which regional parties are having their say in the government. I am not against that. But since I come from a family of freedom fighters, I know the cost our elders have paid for us to enjoy this freedom. So those who have a national agenda should be at the helm. We have many parties with many leaders, but most of them have only regional agendas. This is a time when people and the party should be stronger, in the national interest, whatever shape that may take.
DK Singh: Are you prepared to resign, if chief ministers have to resign?
That goes without saying. The party has given me the job and can ask me to resign. I am ready, whether it?s for a Kamaraj Plan or not.
Geeta Gupta: The Yamuna flows through Haryana and Delhi, and there is the contentious issue of the Munak canal. The water dispute between Delhi and Haryana has become acute in the last few weeks. What is happening?
I think the media is biased against Haryana. When there was flooding in Delhi, we were blamed. Yamuna flows through Haryana first and then into Delhi. So if there are floods, Haryana is the first to be affected. But newspapers say Haryana is releasing water into Delhi as if Haryana wants to drown Delhi. When there is shortage of drinking water in Delhi, Haryana is blamed for not releasing water. This is against the facts. Delhi is our national capital, and we (Haryana) are giving more than what is due to Delhi. Delhi should utilise water better instead of blaming Haryana.
Coomi Kapoor: Why does the media project BJP CMs as development-oriented and strong regional leaders ,whereas Congress CMs are portrayed as puppets of the High Command?
I cannot answer this question?that is up to the media. But if you go through the ASSOCHAM report, Haryana surpassed Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka by achieving a 70% implementation rate of pledged investment during the economic slowdown of 2008-09.
If you still give credit to others, I cannot help it.
Dipankar Ghose: A policeman was recently run over by a truck in Faridabad that was carrying sand illegally from the Yamuna riverbed. What is being done to control illegal quarrying and the ?sand mafias??
These types of illegal activities happen sometimes. The police have registered more than 1,500 cases and there have been some convictions. There is no organised mafia. Five boys may get together and decide to do some illegal business. We have an auctioning system that is perfectly legal. I closed the allotment system after I became chief minister and I opened auctioning?for stone mines, sand, everything.
Sweta Dutta: In Gurgaon, long power cuts are a real problem.
The summer season and the shortage of coal has caused these problems. States like UP are overdrawing. Even in Delhi, barring Lutyens? Delhi, there is a power shortage. Delhi is our partner in the Jhajjar 1,500 megawatt project, where we share the output. But Delhi is the national capital, it gets a lot of allocations that we don?t get. We are also installing a nuclear plant. For water, we have constructed a new plant that has added to the capacity.
Pritha Chatterjee: Haryana has the lowest child sex ratio among all states. But the good news in the 2011 Census was that there has been an 11-point increase from the previous Census. How did you achieve this and what more needs to be done?
I don?t know the precise reason for the improvement but we have come up with many policy initiatives. For instance, if a couple has two daughters, we give R 5,000 for the second girl child and the mother for five years so that when the girl turns 18, she does not have to depend on anybody. In the state services and polytechnics, we have reserved seats for women. Even in our electricity billing system, if the property is in the name of a woman, we give electricity at the rate of 10 paise. We give old-age pensions to both men and women over 60 but if a couple only has daughters, we give them pension from the age of 50. The enrollment of girls in higher education in Haryana is higher than the national average in arts and sciences.
Harcharan Singh: In the last Assembly elections, you were expected to get a landslide victory but you won 41 seats as against 49 seats in the previous election. Why did this happen?
I also expected to do better. One of the major factors was anti-incumbency against sitting MLAs and not just among Congress MLAs. In the previous polls, Chautala?s National Lok Dal (NLD) had 20 MLAs. This time only Chautala won while 19 others lost.
Shekhar Gupta: You once said that you have opened BPOs where lakhs of young people have got jobs but very few of them are from Haryana. Why so?
When I go to Gurgaon, I ask the BPO employers that since they are based in Haryana, why don?t they employ people from here? They say the quality of people in Haryana is not as good as in Delhi. After that, I realised I have to bring quality to education. Haryana is the first state which introduced the semester system across schools and universities. I have brought in institutions of repute to Haryana?IIM, an extension of the IIT Delhi campus, AIIMS, National Law University, etc. We have women?s universities and a medical college for women in the pipeline.
Suanshu Khurana: Are there any serious steps being taken to ban khap panchayats?
Khap panchayat is a group of people from a combination of villages across all castes. They work like NGOs. Sometimes things are blown out of proportion by the media but all I can say is that the khap never convicts anybody. Honour killings have been done by the parents or the families of the boy or the girl. The traditions they endorse are centuries old. In our community, marriages don?t take place within the same gotra. The khaps don?t have any legal sanctity.
DK Singh: Are you concerned about the drift in governance at the Centre? As a senior party man and a chief minister, what will your advice to the Prime Minister be?
The Prime Minister is doing very well. Whenever there are coalition governments, there are shortcomings. You have to carry all the parties. You have to face ground realities.
Raj Kamal Jha: You said a revamp of the government and of the the party is necessary. What needs to be revamped in the government and the party?
The only revamp needed is that everyone in the party should sacrifice in the interest of the nation.
DK Singh: Although you support FDI in retail, you have talked of coalition compulsions at the Centre that stall such steps.
When I said I am in favour of FDI, it is a personal view. It is in the interest of agriculturists. Post-harvesting wastage is proving costly for this country. We don?t have cold storage, no warehouses. In Haryana, if we procure wheat for the next year, we will have to keep it on the streets. With FDI, we will have warehouses, cold chains, marketing extensions. It will be good for consumers, they will get fresh things.
Shekhar Gupta: If a chief minister like Mamata Banerjee doesn?t want FDI, should it be allowed in other states and not in hers?
I feel it should be left to the states. In the interest of farmers, I think we should go ahead with it.
Transcribed by Sweta Dutta & Pritha Chatterjee