The chief minister who is making a difference

Observant visitors to Kerala often stump me with two questions. First, how has a state so blessed by the rain god let its rivers run dry? Second, why doesn't India's most literate state not feature at the top of the software ranking?

The answer to both: Human folly.

Kerala was once at the forefront of both the electronic and the environmental revolutions. (By Indian standards anyway!) A quarter of a century ago, citizens came together to block the Silent Valley Project, raising their voices until not just Thiruvananthapuram but even Delhi had to listen.

And KELTRON -- does anyone even recall the brand today? -- was making the best television sets in India, even talking of branching into computers, when Gurgaon was little better than a desert on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway. Instead of capitalising on these, we Keralites frittered away these advantages.

Few thought the situation would improve when V S Achuthanandan took over as chief minister. The veteran's honesty and incorruptibility is beyond question, but could an octogenarian lead the state in the first decade of the 21st century?

The chief minister is surprising us all today. Through a combination of construction and demolition, Achuthanandan is giving Kerala a second chance.

Let me begin with the demolition job. The highlands of Kerala form one of India's great monsoon catchment areas; unbridled -- and utterly illegal -- construction in the hills was slowly destroying them. And with the construction lobby winning patronage from all sides of the political spectrum, nobody seemed to have a clue about how to stop them.

After going to the hill-station of Munnar, to see the devastation of the once verdant slopes in person, the chief minister of Kerala ordered a demolition drive. I thought this would be as half-hearted and shambolic as the sealing drive in Delhi. I was wrong.

The first structures to be demolished were giant towers installed by the mobile phone giants Airtel and IDEA. They stood, I believe, at the second highest point in Kerala.

Do not rush to blame the Communist chief minister for his supposed hatred of corporate entities. The cell phone companies had built on land whose ownership was claimed by the brother of the local CPI-M district secretary!

The party affiliation did not spare the demolition. The symbolism did not end there. The second entity slated for demolition was an illegal construction owned by the CPI, a member of the ruling Left Democratic Front. The party has its district office in the building. (There was also a hotel in the same place.) The party, I understand, owned the title to the land yet the actual construction was illegal.

Once again, the chief minister showed no mercy.

There followed, I was told, an amusing sequel. Enraged CPI workers raised slogans against the chief minister. With the same breath, they shouted slogans in favour of the Left Democratic Front ministry! They could do no less I suppose given that the revenue department is headed by a CPI functionary.

Speaking of revenue ministers, the third set of demolitions involved a 'resort' owned by a former revenue minister's relative. But the popular mood is staunchly behind the current chief minister. The next day, we were treated to the sight of the former minister addressing the media, blandly supporting everything that Achuthanandan had
ordered.

I was in Kerala while the demolition drive started. All of it received extensive coverage on both the electronic and the print media. Believe me, it was a treat to see Keralites watching it as avidly as, on other occasions, they might watch a cricket match or the election results.

The demolition drive cannot and must not be limited to Munnar. Vast tracts of Kerala's public property, from the beaches to the hills, has been taken over by the land mafia. Its political clout ran so deep that it made no difference whether there was a Congress or a Communist government in the state. In one place, the Kerala police no less found that 48 acres of their land had been taken over!

Achuthanandan is the first chief minister who has had the guts to take on the land sharks. He has set up a special team for the purpose, hand-picked men chosen for their integrity. But I hope everyone understands the chief minister is under formidable pressure.

The public, not just in Kerala but elsewhere, will have to demonstrate their support for the chief minister's policies.

Kerala's hills and beaches are national resources. Wipe Kerala's hills of their green cover, and you effectively cut the catchment area not for the state alone but for Tamil Nadu and even Karnataka. Encroach upon the beaches, and you will soon see that tourist dollars too dry up.

If demolition is one part of Achuthanandan's policy, then construction is the other. I refer to the green signal for the Smart City in Kochi.

Sections of the Left Democratic Front opposed it when the idea was mooted by the Congress-led United Democratic Front. Some farmers are afraid their land shall be taken over at rates below market prices.

The fears of the farmers must be assuaged at all costs. Kerala certainly cannot afford a Nandigram-like situation. But if -- and it is a pretty big 'if' -- this is possible, Smart City could be the fillip that puts Kochi in the same league as Bangalore and Hyderabad.

It could mean thousands of crores of rupees by way of investments, and create lakhs of jobs. As Keralites all over the world would attest, it wasn't any lack of affection for the state but sheer lack of opportunity that drove them to emigrate. Between the Smart City in Kochi and the TechnoPark in Thiruvananthapuram, I hope this is about to change.

If it takes guts to take on entrenched lobbies as Chief Minister Achuthanandan is doing in Munnar it takes equal courage to reverse one's own position. If the Left was a stumbling block in the path of the Smart City project earlier, then the chief minister is making amends.

Hopefully, Kerala can also learn from the mistakes made by pioneers. Bangalore is scarcely a 'garden' city any longer, and old-timers complain that Pune's charm have withered. India's policy-makers forget that Silicon Valley didn't just offer economic opportunities, California was actually a better place to live than some places in the United States. I am delighted that the chief minister understands that economic development cannot come at the cost of environmental degradation.

V S Achuthanandan's first days in office offered little to cheer about. But the past month or so offers hope that his administration has turned a corner. Should he continue in the same vein, I for one shall happily acknowledge that Achuthanandan stands right up there with the late Achutha Menon in the pantheon of Kerala's chief ministers.

Rajasthan govt imposes National Security Act

The stringent National Security Act was imposed on Saturday night by the Rajasthan government in 11 districts hit by Gujjar-Meena clashes and Gujjar violence over ST status issue. The Army also conducted an aerial survey of the affected regions.

NSA has come into force and will remain in operation for the next three months in Bharatpur, Dausa, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Tonk, Bundi, Kota, Baran, Jhalawar, Ajmer and Jaipur areas, Home Secretary V S Singh announced.

Under the Act, district authorities are empowered to arrest without warrant those indulging in arson.

Senior officers of the Army, which was called out following the large-scale violence by Gurjars, carried out a helicopter survey of Bharatpur, Dholpur, Alwar, Dausa, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Jaipur rural, Kota and Tonk to assess the situation and review traffic movements.

For the first time since Tuesday, when the violence over the quota issue erupted, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje joined the talks with community leaders in a bid to resolve the current crisis in the state.

While Gujjar protestors in Sanganer district set fire to a railway station, reports of stray incidents of arson were reported from some other parts of the state.

Barring these, the arson-hit districts were by and large peaceful, a senior official said.

In Laalsoth in Dausa and adjoining Karauli districts, which witnessed Gujjar-Meena clashes on Saturday, resulting in the killing of five persons and injuries to several others, tension prevailed between the two communities as the security forces conducted flag marches.

Senior officers of the Army, which was called out following the large-scale violence by Gujjars, carried out a helicopter survey of Bharatpur, Dholpur, Alwar, Dausa, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Jaipur rural, Kota and Tonk to assess the situation and review traffic movement following the caste clashes.

On the government-Gujjar talks front to end the crisis over the ST quota issue, the fifth round of which was being attended by Raje in Jaipur, a senior government official told reporters that they have begun in a 'cordial' manner.

Atleast 26 people have died in the violence, including five who were killed in Gujjar-Meena clashes on Saturday.

In Sanganer, Gujjar protestors set fire to a railway station, which destroyed the communication system and large number of documents.

They sprayed petrol after pushing out a sole employee allegedly in the absence of Railway Protection Force personnel before setting it ablaze.

Additional DGP (Law and order) K L Bairwa told PTI that Rajasthan Home Secretary V S Singh and DGP A S Gill also flew in a helicopter for an aerial review of the situation in the affected districts.

As a precautionary measure, the government has sealed in certain sensitive areas Rajasthan's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and has asked security forces to allow only entry of bonafide people into the state, a senior police official said.

These steps have been taken in view of agitation by Gujjar in the neighbouring states.

The official said additional forces were deployed at all stations on Jaipur's Gandhinagar, Durgapura, Jagatpura and other railway stations in the region following the burning down of the station.

Bus services on the Delhi-Jaipur highway, which was closed to traffic following road blockades set up by the agitators, was resumed as the Army and security forces maintained a strict vigil.

After four days of disruptions, some train services were also resumed on Saturday on the Delhi-Mumbai route via Gangapur city, the Railway Ministry said in New Delhi.

However, several trains passing via Rajasthan and connecting Delhi and other cities continued to be suspended or terminated before their destinations.