INTERVIEW WITH CHIEF MINISTER

India's Annus Horribilis-the year 2011-has quietly slipped into posterity as has Tripura's year of grouse-legitimate grouse spawned by shrunk devolution of Central fund. But Chief Minister Manik Sarkar remains, as always, an epitome of optimism, refusing to dub the financial woes of his government as a 'crisis'. He prefers to term the scenario as merely a 'problem', exuding a robust confidence in overcoming it. The Chief Minister was grace personified as he emerged from his official chamber to speak to tripurainfo.com in an ante chamber in the final twilight of the year gone by. His comments and observations in reply to queries form the scaffolding of the following new year interview, an annual feature of tripurainfo.com.

Question: The Left Front government confronts a major resource crunch which, it is feared, is likely to worsen in the new year. How do you propose to deal with the situation and what are the prospects for an economic package from Centre which the state government has sought?

Answer: What we are faced with now is not a 'crisis' but a problem and it has been created by the 13th Finance Commission which grossly under-assessed our requirement of non-plan funds. Their assessment is irrational and not reflective of the state's socio-economic realities. To my mind the Finance Commission adopted a vindictive approach and sought to penalise our government for non-compliance with anti-people directives issued from time to time by the Centre. Actually the UPA-I and II has been implementing the Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation agenda set by its predecessor, the NDA with a vengeance. We were under directives to downsize the administration by stopping fresh recruitment, by abolishing posts, by not regularising services of DRW and Contingent workers, by closing down non-profit making PSUs. We as a people-friendly government could not comply with such anti-people directives. For all-round development setting up new schools and colleges, hospitals and health centres, building roads and bridges and creating better infrastructure are must. How can we achieve this without recruiting necessary staff? Besides, concepts and methodology of education have changed so sharply that we now need more teachers, as unlike the good old days, we now have to go for subject-wise recruitment of teachers. Interestingly, the 13th Finance Commission took exception to the fact that the student-teachers ratio in Tripura is 20-22 : 1 while the same at the national level is 40-44 : 1. Apart from this, the vindictive attitude of the 13th Finance Commission is reflected in the fact that for assessment of our fund requirement during 2010-2015, the actual coverage period assigned to it, they took the year 2005 as the base year whereas logically they should have made their calculations with 2010 as the cut-off year for estimating the state's requirement of funds for salaries and allowances. Naturally no fund was sanctioned for payment of salaries and allowances to employees recruited between 2005 and 2010. For pension fund we had requested them to make calculation with the year 2009-2010 as cut-off year but the Commmission adopted the year 2005-2006 which led to serious deprivation in the matter of pension fund also. It is therefore crystal clear that the 13th Finance Commissiion had from the very beginning tried to penalise us for not complying with anti-people directives of the Centre as I said earlier. How could we adopt the Centre's new pension bill which has practically privatised pension and is handing it over to a private body including foreign direct investors. The Finance Commission did not also take into account the remarkable fact that for the past one and half decade we have consistently avoided drawing overdrafts which testifies to our sound financial management in terms of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) bill. In fact we have been rewarded twice with special incentives for complying with FRBM provisions as also for sound financial management.

As for how we are coping with the problem, all that I can say is that we met the Prime Minister, explained to him the situation and asked for a special economic package of Rs 13,600 crores. We also pointed out that the so-called 'normative approach' taken by the 13th Finance Commission was wrong because applying the same yardstick for all states in a vast and diverse country like India can not be a rational approach. Now the Prime Minister who has gone on record on several occasions certifying Tripura as a 'well run state' is expected to take remedial action and he promised to look into the mattter under the auspices of a committee comprising senior officials of the PMO, ministry of finance and planning commission. Our worst trouble is that the planning commission is not allowing us to draw loans from market beyond a narrow limit; had it done so we could have mobilised more resources but we have requested the Prime Minister and planning commission to futher lift the ceiling on market borrowings. Besides, we are trying to increase revenue without hurting common people and a drastic austerity drive is on to eliminate avoidable expenses on travelling, electricity usage, fuel charge, vehicles etc. I am confident of coming out of this scenario successfully.

Question: After the decline in insurgency, unemployment among educated youths seems to be the most critical problem in Tripura now? Any special initiative to tackle the problem?

Answer: Insurgency and unemployment are not related in any way in Tripura. You must be aware that unemployment is a national poblem which has been exacerbated by recession. Tripura's unemployment problem can not be judged in isolation. But if you look at the fundamentals, chronic unemployment problem is a direct offshoot of the capitalist economic model we chose in the immediate aftermath of independence. Now our position on the sensitive issue is diametrically opposite to the stand of the Centre. Despite restrictions put on us by Centre we have been giving employment to youths and will continue to do so. Even surrendered militants are getting jobs as far as possible and those who left jobs to join insurgency are being reinstated with benefit of notional fixation of pay to protect continuity in service. You will be amazed to know how Centre is trying to benefit the big sharks in the automobile industry. We were offered buses under the Jawharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) because the Centre had to indirectly bail out the automobile sector from recessionary effect by purchasing buses. We are happy that we have got the buses under the scheme, our town bus service has revived but what about the approach of the Centre to economic situation in the country. Our priority is bringing the rural sector under the development map and that will also indirectly help the industry as most of the materials and things manufactured by the industry are needed for rural development work.

Actually the question is one of ideology. We are now witness today to the continuing blockade of Wall Street, the nerve-centre of US capitalism and the Wall Street protests have spread to more than a hundred cities in the USA. Moreover, 1500 cities across Europe are being pulverised by protests of common people against failure of the capitalist model of development as the refrain in slogans everwhere is that the vast majority of people can not be condemned to perpetural poverty for the sake of 5/10% of the rich population. You may recall in this connection, when the Soviet Russia had collapsed in the early nineties, capitalists in USA and Europe had written off socialism as a dead and unworkable concept but what is the situation today? Europe and America look to China for economic assistance; Latin America has waked up to the reality of US imperialism and is trying to reinvent itself. Small socialist countries like Vietnam and Cuba are insulated from the crisis that has gripped the capitalist Europe and America. In India, INTUC and CITU are now fighting together . We are trying to cope with the unemployment problem in Tripura in our own way by giving topmost priority to the rural sector , agriculturists are being given Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) by banks under our pressure and we are ensuring remunerative prices for cultivators even by giving subsidy on power, fertiliser etc . In SRI mode of cultivation we are in the lead in the entire country and even though Centre has stopped giving subsidy for this project we are giving 50% of what the Centre gave to the cultivators from our resources.

Question: High incidence of crimes against women and corruption at the lower level of bureaucracy seem to have emerged as major blots in Tripura's socio-economic life. How does the state government propose to curb the twin menace?

Answer: As for crime against women, it is a fact that till recently the rate of crime aganst women in Tripura was quite high but recently there has been a decline and we hope it continues. Actually it is a major social malaise which the government alone cannot curb. A collective initiative of the common people, government and social organisations is needed to curb the menace. There must always be a continuing awareness programme to make people realise that society can not progress by keeping fifty percent of human beings in permanent bondage and torture. Our government is doing what it is supposed to do and my belief is that the acuteness of the problem will progressively diminish. Empowerment of women is also a prerequisite for curbing crime against women. The registered cases also indicate that women here are now well aware of their rights and they do not shy away from coming to the police station and lodging complaint whenever they are subjected to any torture. We are trying to do this in our own way; you must remember that in Tripura Muslim women were seen standing in long queues with infants in arms till midnight to cast their votes in the assembly polls of 2008. That is why the polling percentage in Tripura had reached the record level of 93% in 2008.

To the second part of your query my reply is that corruption at the lower level of bureaucracy does exist but we are on guard to curb the menace. Whenever any report comes about corruption we respond quickly, examining the prima facie basis of the allegation. Once we are satisfied that prima facie basis exists quick action is taken by way of punitive measures.

But it is also a national malady now : 2-G, Common Wealth Games (CWG), Adarsh Colony , instances can be multiplied . More than three hundred MPs and one third of the Central ministers are billionaires who do not care a fig for the poorer sections of people. Recently, CAG has come out with the startling findings that over the past many years a whopping Rs 1.92 lakh crores of money have not been deposited as tax with the IT department. It is quite reasonable to assume that the entire amounts have been stashed away in foregin banks. The incumbent government in Centre is committed to the well-being of the minuscule minority of rich people whose sole obsession is maximisation of profit.

Anna Hazare's movement has made the UPA-II sit up and take a fresh look but it again aborted the issue by coming up with a toothless and lame-duck Lokpal bill which did not pass muster in Rajya Sabha. Our position is that Lokpal is no panacea for resolving all corruption-related problems but by putting in place an institution like a powerful Lokpal we can make a beginning. But we also demand that Corporates be brought under the jurisdiction of Lokpal, otherwise corruption will continue to flourish.

Question: The opposition in Tripura seems to have gained in morale and momentum after the assembly elections in West Bengal. How confident are you of coping with the challenge the opposition is trying to put up?

Answer: We always face any challenge head-on and tame it . The so-called challenge you are referring to is a misnomer. In fact those who sought to put up the pretence of a challenge are themselves under a big challenge in the entire country. You have seen the chain of developments in the country since the last Loksabha polls in 2009 and now the entire country is in a state of all-pervasive crisis of confidence and credibility because of the misdeeds of those running the country. Let them try to hold on to their tottering positions in stead of making postures of challenging us. We work with people, reposing our confidence in their continuing support, and the people are with us. The people of Tripura are determined to march ahead and no power can halt their forward march. Please also remember that in the 2009 Loksabha poll when the UPA-II recaptured power we had won in all sixty assembly segments of Tripura.

Regarding West Bengal and Kerala, suffice it to say that what happened in Kerala is nothing new. There is a change of government in Kerala every five years, so we are not really worried because we know that the Left Front will come back in 2016. In West Bengal our party had been losing ground ove the past few years, the assembly polls in April-May this year came off in the shadow of the last Loksabha polls and you know what happened; corrective measures initiated by the party did not work. But the party will rise from defeat and there will be a new morning, we will politically fight and overcome.

I must also ask you to remember that politics can not be imported or exported; politics everywhere is determined by distinctive socio-economic realities, class composition and other crucial factors and hence, it will be a big blunder and illusion to assume that what happened in West Bengal can be replicated in Tripura. It will never happen because history repeats itself first in tragedy and then in farce. The challengers you refer to would do well to recall this maxim.

Question: What will be your government's priorities in the new year?

Answer: Well, priorities do not change frequently. Our basic priority is to improve the standard and quality of living of poor people living in rural and hilly areas and this will always remain so. Besides, our perspective plan in six vital sectors is there and proper implementation of these plans is a perennial priority. We are putting emphasis on improving irrigation facilities and work on this is on in righ earnest. We have brought 82/83% of villages under electricity and bringing the remaining villages under the same remains a priority. Finishing all pending projects in time is a major priority because delay in implementation results in cost escalation. Raising the quality and standard of living of people belonging to the depressed classes like the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, OBCs and minorities is one of the most urgent priorities. So, that is how it is.

Question: Your message to the people of the state for the new year?

Answer: There is no message as such; I would just focus on realities of the situation. Tripura is not outside India, so India's problem is our problem as there is no way of insulating us completely from what is evolving at the national level . It is now a truism to say that capitalism is in a deep crisis and since our economic structure is capitalist we are also in the thick of a major crisis. Unless there is a tectonic shift in policies and programmes of Centre India is in for a major trouble. All-pervasive corruption and profligate squandering of resources have brought the country to the brink of a disaster and there is no alternative to a determined and protracted struggle to reverse the situation. That is why I appeal to the people to remain united and committed for a struggle to save the country and the state. There are elements working on a hidden agenda to create fresh trouble by reviving insurgency, by creating law and order poblem and by subverting development programmes. The people must be in a state of high alert with unity, harmony and commitment to struggle as their motto. I offer my best wishes to all the people of this state.