Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has come a long way since the time he plunged into the silent nation-building works as a humble pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He cut his teeth in the electoral politics of Uttarakhand in 2002, just two years after the State was carved out of Uttar Pradesh as he was elected an MlA of the first elected Assembly of the State. His graph rose further as he became a Minister in 2007. A votary of simplicity as exemplified by the Sangh, he seems to have retained it even after ascending to the top post of the State. He still loves to mingle with the people and he is open to the ideas of others if he is convinced that they would serve the interests of the State. However, he has a ring of ruthlessness when it comes to taking on corruption. In the course of an exclusive and free-wheeling interview with Sunil Kumar of The Pioneer, he has made it clear that he would not rest till his dual crusade for development and against corruption is taken to its logical conclusion. He has already declared that those involved in corruption would soon land in jails. However, he has made it clear during the interview that he does not believe in what is known as vindictive politics. He would not harass anybody unless his involvement in corruption is proved beyond any shadow of doubt, he has said. Another interesting thing that has come out of the interview is that inclined to the spirit of team work, he would not shove his decision down the throats of his colleagues in the Council of Ministers. He would rather go for collective responsibility, a hallmark of parliamentary democracy. Excerpts:
Q- During the electioneering, the BJP promised the people of Uttarakhand that on being voted to power, it would properly take care of the State that is now 16 years old. Your party said that unless the responsibility of running it was entrusted with it the adolescent State would not be able to grow the way it should. Now, the mandate being given to your party, how would you fulfil the huge expectations that you ignited among the people during the time of campaigningIJ
TSR—Our principal concern is how to arrest the trend of migration which has been happening for an alarmingly long span of time in the hill areas of the State. We would deal with it through providing the people of the hills with education, agriculture, health facilities and employment opportunities. We would stress on agro-based industry through promoting traditional farming, cultivation of fruits, especially the unseasonal ones, vegetables, medicinal plants, aromatic plants and many more. We would stress on processing so as to enable the people get more returns than what they invest. Besides, in our State, there are several places where temperature is very low and the atmosphere is conducive for fishery, especially trout. This would be promoted on the large scale. Those living by the rivers would be benefited.
Q-Please tell us something about the roadmap you have charted out for the hills by way of controlling unabated migration.
TSR—In the hills, the lands being scattered into small clusters, we would implement land consolidation. This would help the highlanders to have larger amount of cultivable lands in their possession. Besides, we would provide them with modern techniques meant for better outputs. It is indeed a grim fact that many of the villages in the hills are being deserted with the people migrating to the plains in search of better livelihood and other facilities. We would involve them in talks and would try to motivate them to either resume the tilling process themselves or give the lands on lease for 20/25 years so that contract farming can be promoted. We are aware of the fact that the landowners fear to let others till their lands on a long-term basis under the conception that in case they do the persons given their lands to till would demand ownership rights in time to come. The State Government would assure them that the lands would remain theirs even after they are given to others on lease. The contract farming would be instrumental in using the lands remaining unused while giving monetary returns to the owners. It would be win-win for the landowners and the lease-owners. I am convinced that introduction of contract farming in the hills on a large scale would not be much of a problem, given the cooperative nature of the hill people. The warm bond of the village society remains intact despite the changes happening everywhere. The villagers still gather together to help one of them build house. The same is true when a marriage happens.
Q-Though you are stressing on checking migration through education as one of its means the condition of the schools and colleges, particularly in the remote areas of the State, is pathetic. While in the plains the number of teachers is high in proportion to the number of students the reverse is true in the hills. And this is why the teachers serving the schools in the plains are inclined to skip classes to do politics.
TSR—What you have said is true. A number of government-run schools is having less students than the minimum requirement of running a school. We have already closed around 1100 schools because of the same. I would like to mention one fact here. The education department’s budget worth Rs 13,000 crore- Rs 11,000 crore for non- plan and Rs 2000 crore for plan- is a dangerous trend. Now, as far as the student/ teachers ratio is concerned the figure in the most of the government-run schools is one teacher for every 12 children. In contrast, there is one teacher for every 25 children in the private schools. Currently, the state’s 60 percent students are enrolled in the private schools. We must bridge the widening gap somehow. I have already asked the education minister to firm up a concrete policy on the matter so that the state-run institutions can be put on par with the private ones in terms of facilities. We are working on clubbing of schools to deal with the staff crunch. We are for reaching education to all the children of the State.
Q- The people who are at the receiving end of the capricious management of the private schools are expecting that your government would come down heavily on those private schools who are fleecing the parents of the pupils with impunity.
TSR—let me make one thing clear. The private schools do not owe anything to the government. They buy lands at the market rates and erect infrastructures all on their own. The government has thus limited room to interfere. However, we would talk to them while asking them to address the grievances of the parents. At the same time, we would provide the State-run schools with enough of facilities, even better facilities than the private schools do. This is the best way to at least mitigate the monopoly of the private schools on the state’s education system.
Q- You are stressing on revamping health in the hills to check migration. But the ground reality there is grim with doctors being scarce in the state-run medical facilities. The previous governments failed to put things right. What is more, instead of addressing the problems plaguing the medical facilities in the hills, they opted for the shortcuts by authorising pharmacists to prescribe medicines for the ailing. How would you take on the challenges from their rootsIJ
TSR—As my government is committed to providing teachers in the state-run schools we are committed too to provide the state-run medical facilities with adequate number of doctors and technicians. We are now right in the process of recruiting doctors in such hospitals. The process has started with the recruitment of dentists. To provide medicines for one and all at affordable prices, we have been promoting generic medicines being prescribed in the government-run hospitals. We would go the whole hog to free the state-run medical facilities from the scourge of financial crunch and the shortage of doctors and other staffers.
Q-You served the state as a Cabinet Minister between 2007 and 2012 when the BJP government was there. Do you think that the competence you proved during your previous stint in the government is what has prompted your party leadership to invest you with a much bigger challenge of running the state as the chief ministerIJ Or, maybe, the acumen you showed in running an important department of the state government has proved an important consideration for your ascending to the top post of the state.
TSR—let me clear things. I am grateful to the party for reposing in me the enormous confidence of running the state government from the helm. I would not be found wanting in rising up to the tremendous challenge ahead of me. The people gave a resounding mandate to my party while expecting a complete turnaround in the development scenario of the state. We are naturally under immense pressure to rise to the occasion. I start my day sharp at 5 am and work till late night. Sometimes, it is at 2 am when I retire. I have been talking extensively to the experts to get true guidance about how to sail the state to all-round prosperity while eliminating corruption from the roots. Corruption-free good governance is what we are aiming at.
Q-Tourism being the fulcrum of the state’s economy, the people here are eager to know about your vision on how to take tourism to dizzy heights.
TSR—Now, we are engaged in upgrading the Jollygrant airport in tune with the norms of an international airport. The Boeing service would be launched soon and the air fares would be brought down substantially. We have been enthused with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to reduce the fare for the first 25 fliers in every flight to Rs 2500.
We are working on it. Besides, once the giant flights start operating the fare would automatically come down. This would increase tourist footfalls substantially. The Centre having already sanctioned all-weather road and rail connectivity between Rishikesh and Karnprayag, we are expecting a huge rush of the tourists, thronging the state from across the country and abroad. We would also go for creating new sites of tourism interests to enthuse the people to come in their greater numbers.