Author:
Publication: Tehelka
Date: February 6, 2010
URL: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main43.asp?filename=Ne060210i_dont.asp
It is election year for Bihar and Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar is feeling comfortable. The big pitch for him is the work ethic
he brings to Bihar and its effect. Here, he explains how Bihar is going about
the big three - investment, education and hunger - and why he thinks the Centre
may not be too helpful.
Q.: Hunger in Bihar is too basic an issue
to be kept aside. We saw a family cooking and eating the skin of a goat. How
long will you take to reach this Bihar?
A.: There is great poverty in Bihar. More people live below the poverty line
here than what the Central government claims. We have made our assessment
and it shows 1.4 crore destitute in Bihar. The Centre says there are 65 lakh
people below the poverty line in Bihar. If we have to reach the hungry, the
biggest thing is to have clarity on poverty.
Q.: So, how long before the starving get food?
A.: Let me explain how it works. Our teams go by names in the list of families
below the poverty line. We say 1.4 crore names must be on the list. The Centre
says there are 65 lakh people. How can I reach these people when we cannot
agree on how many destitute there are? The states don't run the PDS. It all
depends on the Central government. If the poor are to get subsidised food
so they don't eat animal skin, we must agree on who to reach. We are the sufferers.
I wrote to the Centre on a food security law.
I told them to identify the BPL families if
they are not satisfied with our surveys. But, it cannot be that the Centre
takes the credit for a food security law and we get the abuses because people
say their names are not on the list of BPL families.
Q.: Fresh investment can infuse life into
an underdeveloped economy. Bihar is making a serious pitch but the big investors
don't seem to be coming. Why is this so?
A.: Big investors are interested in two areas in Bihar: thermal power and
ethanol. Thermal power plants cannot come up without coal. Coal needs water
and water is a state issue. But now, they have started a new system of seeking
clearance from the central water resources ministry. This ministry has said
that the Ganga basin water will not be available for coal. In Bihar, there
is only the Ganga basin. What else is there?
If they object to water for thermal plants,
how can investments come? Likewise, the proposal to make ethanol from sugarcane
is pending with the Centre since 2007. Things are not moving because of the
Centre.
Q.: Investors say land is a problem in Bihar.
They also say you are too cautious a chief minister to help.
A.: Why should I acquire land for them? We are acquiring land for roads, railways
and bridges. We are offering heavy compensation for that. We are acquiring
far more land now than in the past for public purposes. As far as private
investors are concerned, we ask them to negotiate on their own. If we get
into the picture, there will be two issues. One, the land cost will be more
because we acquire after paying a hefty compensation. Therefore, our land
will include the charges we pay for acquiring and the development cost. Secondly,
we can only offer land on lease. If the private investors negotiate on their
own, they can get the land title on their name. Besides, [West] Bengal is
next door. Haven't Nandigram and Singur happened there? You may have met the
window shoppers, who are not really interested. They look for alibis. No real
investor has asked us to acquire land. Only the non-serious investors are
complaining.
Q.: Education is another primary issue. You
grew up as a child in Bihar. How is it different for children now?
A.: The biggest change is that we are sending children to school. There were
25 lakh children out of school when we came to power. Now, that figure has
come down to less than eight lakh. The second change is that we are trying
to offer them quality education once they are in school so that attendance
improves. We must have good midday meals and good teachers to improve attendance.
So, we are focusing on teacher training and management of midday meals. We
have just begun training 40,000 teachers with the help of IGNOU. You must
remember that I don't have a switch that I can press and make things happen.
We can only tackle things one by one.
Things are better than in the past, but we
have to do far more. We have been successful in getting girls into schools
by giving them school dresses and money. We began giving bicycles to high
school students, boys and girls. All students between Classes 3 and 5 are
given Rs 500 a year, whichever community they come from, for school uniform.
Q.: Once in school, the intelligence levels
of children become a factor. There appears to be a lack of intellectual capacity
in Bihar today.
A.: This is not a Bihar-centric problem. You will find it elsewhere also.
The whole country lacks intellectual depth. But, the children of Bihar are
ahead of others in learning languages and math. I'd like to remind you that
we have only now begun to work in Bihar. People had lost the habit of working.
Now, they are starting to work again. So, don't look for solutions everywhere.
You can't do third and fourth stage evaluation now.
Our priority was to see that no children stay
out of school. We have opened 15,000 new schools and recruited two lakh teachers.
Yet, there are eight lakh children still out of school. We found that five
lakh are either from Maha Dalit families or from the Muslim community. They
need special care.
We have opened centres where we keep these
children and prepare them for school. All this requires constant effort. There
was no effort all these years. It has only begun now.
Q.: The branding of Bihar appears to be getting
stronger outside India. Are you opening up Bihar to Mauritius? Is this a new
trend for Bihar, tying up with a foreign country?
A.: We are doing a lot with Mauritius. They will have a consulate here. We
are willing to provide land and they are willing to open an office. Close
to half the people in Mauritius are of Bihari origin. I have told the central
government all this. The External Affairs Ministry now has to take the initiative
with protocol.
Q.: How will it play out?
A.: People from Mauritius want to trace their roots. We are ready to help
them. The Mauritius Prime Minister came here and opened schools and hospitals.
Q.: Family plays a disproportionate role in
Indian politics. The way you deal with family is different from many other
politicians. How does it work with you?
A.: Everyone has their way of looking at family and politics. I am also a
perfect family man but what has that got to do with anything? When you get
into politics, you must treat everyone as a family member. There isn't a human
being on earth without a family. But how does that matter? We have to be faithful
to the duty and the opportunity we have got. I think many people have a sense
of insecurity. They feel they will be secure only if their family gets empowered.
I have no insecurity. I know death is imminent in everybody's life. Why get
insecure?
