Username India, password Gujarat: Even choreographed auction of pinstripe suit "chose" Modi's home state

Add caption

By RK Misra*
Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative but success is a science. If you have the conditions, you get the results.Thus goes an old saying. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi heading a BJP majority government loosely garbed in an almost redundant National Democratic Alliance (NDA) completes an year in office, it is time to delve deep and dissect dispassionately to foresee the future.

Over a year ago, the conditions were ideal. A decade of familiarity had already bred contempt. A thoroughly besmirched Congress-led UPA had to go. The young had little patience for the old. And in the vacuum came charging the knight in dazzling armour, riding astride a pedigreed horse called Gujarat. The results followed. Narendra Modi milked both ‘chai’ and ‘chant’ to bag the chair.
One year into power, the shining shield has given way to name-sporting suits but India’s dapper prime minister resolutely refuses to get of the high horse called Gujarat. All roads from Delhi can be traced back to his home state. Gujarat remains the model for India to follow, fret not if the public debt during his rule in the home state rose by a whopping Rs 1 lakh crore! Even for a choreographed auction of the pinstripe which fetched a record Rs 4.31 crore Modi chooses to fall back on Gujarat (Surat).
Known to trust officers more than his own politicians (for over 3/4th of his tenure in Gujarat he did not make political appointments to state public sector boards and corporations), he has officers from the state in key administrative positions.
By last count there were over 20 of them. PK Misra (retired), principal secretary to the PM, A.K.Sharma, joint secretary to the PM, Rajiv Topno, private secretary to the PM, Hasmukh Adhia, secretary financial services, Tapan Ray, additional secretary,electronics, Gauri Kumar, secretary, cabinet coordination, Rita Teotia, special secretary telecommunications, Rajiv Takru, secretary, national commission on minorities, Rajesh Kishore, secretary general, national human rights commission, HK Dash, secretary, inter-state council secretariat, PKPujari, special secretary, agriculture, Amarjit Singh, additional secretary, water resources, Ashim Khurana, secretary ,UPSC, Sujit Gulati, joint secretary, textiles, PK Gera, director general, NIFT, Vijaylaxmi Joshi, secretary, drinking water and sanitation, G Mahapatra, joint secretary, commerce, Sunaina Tomar, joint secretary, textiles.
Three IAS officers recently inducted from Gujarat are G C Murmu who was the principal secretary to chief minister Modi, Raj Kumar, secretary agriculture in Gujarat and RP Gupta who was the secretary, civil supplies in the state. IAS officer JP Gupta from Gujarat was handpicked by Modi to head Indian earthquake relief operations in Nepal. In effect, the entire Modi team in Gujarat finds itself in key positions in Delhi. The latest addition to the ranks is a retired chief secretary of the state, AK Jyoti who joins as election commissioner under CEC Zaidi, who was a batch junior to him in the civil services.
IPS officers of the Gujarat cadre are not lagging too far behind. If all the officers languishing in jail in fake encounter cases in the state have been reinstated, all those who fell foul of the Modi government like Satish Verma and Rajnish Rai were marched off to remote penal postings. Senior IPS officer Rahul Sharma has even quit the service.
The rewards for those who figured in the good books have been equally fast. AK Sharma, joint commissioner of police crime branch, Ahmedabad has been made joint director CBI in Delhi. Other officers marked out for similar movement are Surat police commissioner Rakesh Asthana (ADGP-technical), Vipul Vijoy, IGP (coastal security), Subhash Trivedi and Pravin Sinha, IGP (P&M). 1989 batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer Vivek Shrivastav who was on deputation to the Intelligence Bureau was moved to head the prestigious Special Protection Group (SPG) that provides security to the prime minister, after Modi took over in Delhi.
Thus it is that the bulk of the positions across ministries and policing, investigation and intelligence agencies are headed by the eyes and ears of Modi. If all powers in Gujarat stood concentrated in the hands of the Modi led Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), making pygmies out of ministers, the same phenomenon stands replicated in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) now with similar results, including the plight of the ministers.
Modi is the norm and Gujarat continues to be the flavor of the season. Inspired by Gujarat, the Centre has already told the states to give 33 per cent reservation to women in their respective police forces though his home state has failed to fill its quota for recruiting women cops. The 'beti bachao abhiyan' -- save the girl child campaign -- is set to be replicated at the national level, the women and child development ministry has made it clear notwithstanding the fact that the achievements of the state in the sphere is nothing to gloat about. In progress are studies to replicate the concept of ‘hostels’ for milch cattle at the national level, a scheme which is still at a trial stage in Gujarat.
While there is a crazy race underway in Delhi to emulate at the national level, everything that Modi thought about while in Gujarat, a bird’s eye-view of the statistics of the time should put things in better perspective. The Gujarat government, according to annual budget records, was unable to spend Rs 2,073 crore in the five year period 2008-09 to 2012-13, a sum allocated for different schemes in successive state budgets. In certain cases, it even placed supplementary grants and raised the estimates but did not spend, as planned. Biggest affected sectors were agriculture, social infrastructure and fisheries. All this while Chief Minister Modi went to town yelling his head off over injustice to Gujarat at the hands of a Congress-led UPA government.
Though Gujarat under the present Prime Minister signed 30,434 MOUs in five bi-annual Gujarat global Investor summits during 2003-11 for a mind boggling sum of around Rs 40 lakh crore, official statistics speak differently. It is Haryana which has been the most successful among 15 states in converting investment proposals into reality with an 18.9 per cent conversion rate. Gujarat lagged far behind with a mere 12.6 per cent followed closely by UP with 11.4 per cent. Gujarat’s braggart claims of Rs 40 lakh crore worth MOUs notwithstanding, according to the data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion between August 1991 and March 2014 only Rs 5 lakh crore was actually invested in the entire country.
The comparison between proposed investment with actual implementation and job creation speaks a dismal tale. In this period 94,000 investment proposals which proposed investment of Rs 102 lakh crores were supposed to create 2.3 crore jobs. Data shows only Rs 5.1 lakh crore was invested and just 20.1 lakh jobs created. In the investment to job creation ratio Gujarat was among the worst states-MP, UP, Jharkhand and then Gujarat (two jobs for every one crore invested). So much for the Gujarat model.
Another example. The Mahatma Gandhi Swachhata mission is the national flagship of the Modi government. It has set a sanitation index (SI) as criteria. On his home ground, 410 government-owned premises which is 48 per cent of the 847 failed to score even a minimum of 3 on the new sanitation index. Even the newly constructed Swarnim Sankul-1 and 2 (cost Rs 250 crore) where the chief minister and all ministers are housed also failed to get the highest sanitation index of 4.5 (it scored only 4.1).
The bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai which is being energetically piloted by the Modi government, is expected to cost around Rs 1 lakh crore, according to the latest estimates. It would be pertinent to note what the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has to say in its latest report released in the budget session of the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha recently. Over 5,000 government run nursery or primary schools (anganwadi centres) do not have toilets at all. For all the tall talk, malnourishment cases and those of anemia amongst children in Gujarat has grown by one lakh in the last three years. According to the recent report of the state government conducted annual school health programme (SHP) there number stood at 5,13,107 as against 4,13,107 children in 2012-13. Cosmetic showmanship or basic needs, you decide.
Remember, necessity never made a good bargain for he that lives on hope alone, will die fasting.
---
*Senior journalist. This article has also appeared in http://wordsmithsandnewsplumbers.blogspot.in/

Comments

Beyond his riding skill, Karl Umrigar was admired for his radiance, sportsmanship, and affability

By Harsh Thakor* Karl Umrigar's name remains etched in the annals of Indian horse racing, a testament to a talent tragically cut short. An accident on the racetrack at the tender age of nineteen robbed India of a rider on the cusp of greatness. Had he survived, there's little doubt he would have ascended to international stature, possibly becoming the greatest Indian jockey ever. Even 46 years after his death, his name shines brightly, reminiscent of an inextinguishable star. His cousin, Pesi Shroff, himself blossomed into one of the most celebrated jockeys in Indian horse racing.

Aurangzeb’s last will recorded by his Maulvi: Allah shouldn't make anyone emperor

By Mohan Guruswamy Aurangzeb’s grave is a simple slab open to the sky lying along the roadside at Khuldabad near Aurangabad. I once stopped by to marvel at the tomb of an Emperor of India whose empire was as large as Ashoka the Great's. It was only post 1857 when Victoria's domain exceeded this. The epitaph reads: "Az tila o nuqreh gar saazand gumbad aghniyaa! Bar mazaar e ghareebaan gumbad e gardun bas ast." (The rich may well construct domes of gold and silver on their graves. For the poor folks like me, the sky is enough to shelter my grave) The modest tomb of Aurangzeb is perhaps the least recognised legacies of the Mughal Emperor who ruled the land for fifty eventful years. He was not a builder having expended his long tenure in war and conquest. Towards the end of his reign and life, he realised the futility of it all. He wrote: "Allah should not make anyone an emperor. The most unfortunate person is he who becomes one." Aurangzeb’s last will was re...

PUCL files complaint with SC against Gujarat police, municipal authorities for 'unlawful' demolitions, custodial 'violence'

By A Representative The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has lodged a formal complaint with the Chief Justice of India, urging the Supreme Court to initiate suo-moto contempt proceedings against the police and municipal authorities in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The complaint alleges that these officials have engaged in unlawful demolitions and custodial violence, in direct violation of a Supreme Court order issued in November 2024.

How the slogan Jai Bhim gained momentum as movement of popularity and revolution

By Dr Kapilendra Das* India is an incomprehensible plural country loaded with diversities of religions, castes, cultures, languages, dialects, tribes, societies, costumes, etc. The Indians have good manners/etiquette (decent social conduct, gesture, courtesy, politeness) that build healthy relationships and take them ahead to life. In many parts of India, in many situations, and on formal occasions, it is common for people of India to express and exchange respect, greetings, and salutation for which we people usually use words and phrases like- Namaskar, Namaste, Pranam, Ram Ram, Jai Ram ji, Jai Sriram, Good morning, shubha sakal, Radhe Radhe, Jai Bajarangabali, Jai Gopal, Jai Jai, Supravat, Good night, Shuvaratri, Jai Bhole, Salaam walekam, Walekam salaam, Radhaswami, Namo Buddhaya, Jai Bhim, Hello, and so on. A soft attitude always creates strong relationships. A relationship should not depend only on spoken words. They should rely on understanding the unspoken feeling too. So w...

राजस्थान, मध्यप्रदेश, पश्चिम बंगाल, झारखंड और केरल फिसड्डी: जल जीवन मिशन के लक्ष्य को पाने समन्वित प्रयास जरूरी

- राज कुमार सिन्हा* जल संसाधन से जुड़ी स्थायी समिति ने वर्तमान लोकसभा सत्र में पेश रिपोर्ट में बताया है कि "नल से जल" मिशन में राजस्थान, मध्यप्रदेश, पश्चिम बंगाल, झारखंड और केरल फिसड्डी साबित हुए हैं। जबकि देश के 11 राज्यों में शत-प्रतिशत ग्रामीणों को नल से जल आपूर्ति शुरू कर दी गई है। रिपोर्ट में समिति ने केंद्र सरकार को सिफारिश की है कि मिशन पुरा करने में राज्य सरकारों की समस्याओं पर गौर किया जाए।

Incarcerated for 2,424 days, Sudhir Dhawale combines Ambedkarism with Marxism

By Harsh Thakor One of those who faced incarceration both under Congress and BJP rule, Sudhir Dhawale was arrested on June 6, 2018, one of the first six among the 16 people held in what became known as the Elgar Parishad case. After spending 2,424 days in incarceration, he became the ninth to be released from jail—alongside Rona Wilson, who walked free with him on January 24. The Bombay High Court granted them bail, citing the prolonged imprisonment without trial as a key factor. I will always remember the moments we spent together in Mumbai between 1998 and 2006, during public meetings and protests across a wide range of issues. Sudhir was unwavering in his commitment to Maoism, upholding the torch of B.R. Ambedkar, and resisting Brahmanical fascism. He sought to bridge the philosophies of Marxism and Ambedkarism. With boundless energy, he waved the banner of liberation, becoming the backbone of the revolutionary democratic centre in Mumbai and Maharashtra. He dedicated himself ...

State Human Rights Commission directs authorities to uphold environmental rights in Vadodara's Vishwamitri River Project

By A Representative The Gujarat State Human Rights Commission (GSHRC) has ordered state and Vadodara municipal authorities to strictly comply with environmental and human rights safeguards during the Vishwamitri River Rejuvenation Project, stressing that the river’s degradation disproportionately affects marginalized communities and violates citizens’ rights to a healthy environment. The Commission mandated an immediate halt to ecologically destructive practices, rehabilitation of affected communities, transparent adherence to National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders, and public consultations with experts and residents. The order follows the Concerned Citizens of Vadodara coalition—environmentalists, ecologists, and urban planners—submitting a detailed letter to authorities, amplifying calls for accountability. The group warned that current plans to “re-section” and “desilt” the river contradict the NGT’s 2021 Vishwamitri River Action Plan, which prioritizes floodpla...

CPM’s evaluation of BJP reflects its political character and its reluctance to take on battle against neo-fascism

By Harsh Thakor* A controversial debate has emerged in the revolutionary camp regarding the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s categorization of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Many Communists criticize the CPM’s reluctance to label the BJP as a fascist party and India as a fascist state. Various factors must be considered to arrive at an accurate assessment. Understanding the original meaning and historical development of fascism is essential, as well as analyzing how it manifests in the present global and national context.

Implications of deaths of Maoist leaders G. Renuka and Ankeshwarapu Sarayya in Chhattisgarh

By Harsh Thakor* In the wake of recent security operations in southern Chhattisgarh, two senior Maoist leaders, G. Renuka and Ankeshwarapu Sarayya, were killed. These operations, which took place amidst a historically significant Maoist presence, resulted in the deaths of 31 individuals on March 20th and 16 more three days prior.

Haven't done a good deed, inner soul is cursing me as sinner: Aurangzeb's last 'will'

Counterview Desk The Tomb of Aurangzeb, the last of the strong Mughal emperors, located in Khuldabad, Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, has this epitaph inscribed on it: "Az tila o nuqreh gar saazand gumbad aghniyaa! Bar mazaar e maa ghareebaan gumbad e gardun bas ast" (the rich may well construct domes of gold and silver on their graves. For the poor folks like me, the sky is enough to shelter my grave).

Search This Blog