CASTE POLITICS IS OUTDATED: KHATTAR
Haryana chief minister MANOHAR LAL KHATTAR is once again at the receiving end of Jat anger, this time over the Centre’s new farm laws. But in this interview with ANILESH S. MAHAJAN, he sounds resolutely focused on governance issues rather than electoral i
QYou are currently facing two challenges: the ongoing pandemic and the farmers’ agitation. Several villages in your state have put up hoardings banning the entry of BJP-JJP leaders and workers. How do you propose to tackle these challenges?
A. Challenges are a part of life, there is no shying away from them. But challenges also bring opportunities, which can yield rich societal dividend if you build on them. It is not that Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought these new farm laws out of thin air. They were discussed during Congress and UPA times. The then agriculture minister Sharad Pawar also held several rounds of discussion. In Haryana, the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government brought in the APMC Act in 2006; it was later amended in 2008. The framework for contract farming and other procurement measures was already there. PM Modi brought new laws only to ease farmers’ challenges so that small landholdings could be consolidated to become commercially viable, farmers got better yields and marketing freedom. We will buy their produce on MSP (minimum support price). They will also have the option of selling in the open market.
Q. Many agriculture economists have made a similar case over the past six months. Why, then, is the BJP unable to communicate it to the state’s farmers?
A. It is not that we have not been able to make them understand. There is a bunch of people who do not want to understand. There were 11 rounds of discussions between farm leaders and central ministers, and after hour-long discussions, they’d return to their demand of repealing the laws. There are professional politicians in Haryana who think that by involving the khap panchayats they can topple governments. I have been given a mandate by the electorate of my state, it cannot be snatched.
Q. The Jats agitated for reservations in your previous term and voted differently in the assembly election. They are agitating again over the farm laws. Do you think there is a lack of communication with this influential community? What are you doing to win them over?
A. There is no such gap. I have brought transparency into the recruitment system. Several Jats have also got into the system, without paying bribes. They value the good work we are doing, but there are others who refuse to acknowledge the same and just want to grab power. There was a network of corrupt people in previous regimes, who acquired a taste
for bribes and free money. The CM’s residence would have a crowd of people seeking to get their work done. The day I joined, I decided people will not come to the CM’s residence; I will go to them instead and get their work done. It killed the network of agents. We now have a very well-run CM’s window at every sub-divisional level, where any Haryana resident can share his grievances. Close to 750,000 grievances have been registered so far and 90 per cent resolved. This is among the biggest reasons we won a repeat mandate. Except for the last Bhupinder Singh Hooda regime, no chief minister from Haryana has got a repeat mandate. His vote percentage reduced by 6 percentage points, whereas we gained 3 percentage points.
Q. You still won only 40 seats and fell short of the halfway mark.
A. That was because of some tactical voting [by the Jats]. We have studied and understood it. The candidates in the third slot have a difference of 20 per cent from those competing for the first two slots. It is obvious that they voted for candidates who could defeat the BJP’s nominees. The negative campaign based on lies had an adverse impact. We got 36 per cent, not 51 per cent votes.
Q. Is there a need to develop new leadership among Jats and Dalits in the state? The common perception is that none of your leaders is capable of taking on former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. A. You cannot set such targets. Building and strengthening of leadership is a very natural and organic process. The BJP became a major player in the state only after 2014. The colleagues (from these communities) may have lost the election but it doesn’t mean they have lost command.
Q. Dushyant Chautala is being pressured to exit the government…
A. It won’t work. The days of caste-oriented politics are over. As people running the government, we have certain responsibilities, like not allowing the situation to deteriorate. Our patience comes from our sense of responsibility. As partners, there are some limitations and morality. The government is running smoothly and effectively. We have a good understanding with our partners so far.
Q. Do certain castes corner all the benefits despite the schemes being meant for all?
A. My target is to get justice for the last man in the queue. I can achieve this by bringing in changes in governance, in people’s mindset on issues such as female foeticide and infanticide and by making their lives more liveable. I also understand that change doesn’t happen overnight. People are benefitting and they do value the same. It took me some time to convince youngsters that the new normal for getting jobs is merit not bribes. Even if they don’t get a job, they understand the other person was perhaps more deserving. They don’t curse the system any longer.
Q. Surveys show that unemployment in Haryana is skyrocketing…
A. This data comes from a private company directly associated with the Congress. We have collected data from 210 million people from 5.5 million households, of whom only 600,000 have said they are unemployed. We have devised a policy to register the unemployed (in three categories—post +2, graduates and post-graduates) in the state and assure them work for a minimum of 100 hours, and an honorarium of up to Rs 9,000 per month. There are about 105,000 registered youth for the scheme, 50,000 have already got work. If we don’t get them work, they are assured Rs 3,000 a month. These stats debunk politically motivated surveys.
Q. Haryana is said to be the laboratory of the Centre’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme. You have worked very closely on it. Also, what is the progress on your aim to take the number of women police officers to a third of the force?
A. In 2014-15, the participation of women in the police force was 5-6 per cent; today, it is already 10 per cent. We will now take it to 15 per cent. We have set up women police stations at the district level and plan to take it to the sub-divisional level. We are ensuring there are colleges for girls at every 15 km, 50-odd have been set up in the past five years. Girls from Haryana are making us proud in sports. Girls outnumber boys in schools and colleges. The sex ratio in 2015 was 831; now, it is 923.
Q. The country is slowly emerging from the Covid lockdown. After the Union budget, all eyes are now on state budgets. What does Haryana plan to do?
A. Our economy is robust. We are expecting a Rs 12,000 crore revenue shortfall; we may recover some of it in the next two months. We didn’t defer our committed expenditure—like employee salaries—we met the revenue loss by cutting down on capital expenditure. We have declared the lockdown period as zero period for projects and excise. Extending the Rs 4,000 relief to 1.5 million households, we also offered industry interest subvention on debt for employee salaries for the lockdown period. We have already come out with a new manufacturing policy. ■
“There are professional politicians in Haryana who think that by involving khap panchayats they can topple governments”