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Journalism of Courage
Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on smart harnessing of India’s water resources, the Assembly elections in Rajasthan and the road to the 2024 general elections. The session was moderated by Deputy Editor Liz Mathew.
Liz Mathew: Depletion of groundwater is a concern. Does your ministry have a specific plan, in the backdrop of climate change, to preserve groundwater?
The quantum of water we store on the surface is very little. If we combine the volume of water from precipitation — rainfall, snowfall and snow melt — the harvestable amount is close to 2,000 billion cubic meters (BCM). Of this, we can only store about 250 BCM. So we need to increase storage capacity. Our second challenge is the high dependability on groundwater as we meet 65 per cent of our needs through it. We extract the highest volume of groundwater in the world, followed by the US and China. Over-withdrawal is leading to groundwater depletion in several areas. Building more reservoirs is not a solution because we have tapped most major geographical locations but small ones can be built at the village level.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi started Mission Amrit Sarovar to address this need and spread awareness about it in his Independence Day speech. He said that we either dig new wells or revive the old ones and set a target of developing or rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country. With the help of satellite images, we identified ideal locations to build these water bodies and made this data available to the districts. Such reservoirs can harvest surface water and recharge groundwater aquifers. We are monitoring levels with piezometers in more than 6,600 blocks and have identified around 1,200 blocks that gradually came under the over, critically and semi-critically exploited (OCS) categories. Now states are also aware and levels are improving because of timely action. The PM instructed us to prepare these reports every year. We tried to converge the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, the groundwater mapping exercise, the National Aquifer Mapping and Management (NAQUIM) Programme with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA) and the 15th Finance Commission’s investment. This will strengthen our recharging activities.
Liz Mathew: Reports say that while some of the government’s flagship schemes, like low-cost housing, have created goodwill and got votes, the Jal Jeevan Mission has not created a ripple. If so, why?
If you go to any corner of the country, people will tell you it was PM Modi’s initiative to provide drinking water to every house. He called 180 heads of the village water and sanitation committees, under the Jal Jeevan Mission, from 22 states. Most of them were women and we sensed the strong bond between Jal Jeevan Mission and the PM at the grassroots level. Water is a state subject. The state governments may take credit but people know the truth.
Liz Mathew: The Rajasthan Assembly election is going to be a crucial test for the BJP in the run-up to 2024. There is apprehension in your party about the welfare schemes launched by the current Ashok Gehlot government, particularly the Mukhya Mantri Chiranjeevi Swasthya Beema Yojana. Are you worried?
Everyone had said that the 2018 Rajasthan elections would be the semi-finals for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. We had lost the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, albeit by a smaller margin. But after three months, in the Lok Sabha elections, barring a seat in Madhya Pradesh, we won 100 per cent seats, even in Rajasthan. Similarly, there’s no connection between the 2023 Rajasthan elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Having said that, Gehlot had announced similar schemes, hoping to continue as chief minister, during the Assembly elections in 2013. Yet his party, the Congress, secured just 21 of 200 seats while the BJP got 163. If a government fails for four-and-a-half years of its term, it cannot rescue itself by launching schemes in the last six months. There’s no section of society that is not angry with the Gehlot government. They have not fulfilled the promise to farmers, 19,000 of whom had to auction their land to repay loans. Around 2,000 committed suicide. And now, they promise legislation to ensure that no farmer’s land is auctioned. Who will buy this? Women are angry because of the spiralling incidents of rape. The youth are upset after investigations into the teacher recruitment paper leak led to the imprisonment of a Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) member, the first of its kind in this country. Due to the Gehlot government’s appeasement politics, riots have broken out and Kanhaiya Lal Teli was beheaded. Its policy to provide free electricity of 100 units came with a condition that only those who had registered in the government’s Rahat Shivir programme would be eligible.
Liz Mathew: But the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is doing the same thing to win votes…
The Madhya Pradesh government has had a huge impact in the last three years, pacing up the Jal Jeevan Mission where it was lagging behind in the first one-and-a-half years. If a government consistently works from the get-go, there’s no reason to make last-minute announcements.
The voter has matured. In Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, the Assembly and LS polls happened simultaneously in 2019 but the results were different. Also, people in rural areas vote more rationally than those in urban areas
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Raj Kamal Jha: You said there is a disconnect when people vote for their State and the Centre. Why does this happen, what’s your reading?
Since Independence, the voter has matured and can make a clear-cut distinction between their interests in the State and what they want from the Centre. In Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections happened simultaneously in 2019 but the results were different. Also, people living in rural areas vote more rationally than those in urban areas, who might vote emotionally.
Shyamlal Yadav: In the past, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Vasundhara Raje were declared the BJP’s CM candidates for Rajasthan? Why the delay now?
There was some doubt during Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s time but given his stature, he got cleared. Since 2002, when Vasundhara Raje was made the candidate, everything had been loud and clear. But there’s no question of delay because a year ago, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced we would fight elections as a collective and not declare a CM candidate. This message has settled in the minds of people as well as the BJP cadre.
The TMC and DMK were against us earlier, too. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar benefitted more from BJP’s voters than we did from his in 2019. Opposition parties can’t get together because they are adversaries at the Assembly level
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Shyamlal Yadav: Since 2014-15, Rs 14,000 crore has been released for cleaning the Ganga. The amount released for 33 major rivers of the National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) is less than 10 per cent of funds released for the Ganga and its tributaries. Don’t these rivers matter?
We worked on Ganga because its basin caters to 40 per cent of India’s population. In a big country like ours, you have to prioritise. The NRCP used to be a part of the Ministry of Environment for 10 years and its funding pattern is different from the Ganga Mission, which is funded 100 per cent by the Government of India. In NRCP, states have to contribute their share, which they delay. But we’ve started work on the Narmada, Godavari and Kaveri basins.
Harikishan Sharma: Can smaller parties, like the Rashtriya Loktantra Party of Hanuman Beniwal, and BSP impact BJP’s prospects in Rajasthan?
BSP’s impact has decreased everywhere. Smaller parties, which have some hold in pockets, cannot impact the BJP or Congress universally. Elections ultimately happen in a constituency. All these parties have no cadre or candidate. Unless, like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) practice, they pick up rebel candidates. In the previous election, BJP lost by less than a 0.5 per cent difference. A total of four crore votes were cast and the difference was 1,45,000 votes. So even in that scenario, the BJP didn’t lose because of these parties. Caste also makes a difference. Last time, we had a major loss in eastern Rajasthan because Sachin Pilot was the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief and the Gujjars had backed him hoping he would become CM.
Raj Kamal Jha: The Gehlot government has brought a set of social welfare Bills on income guarantee, gig workers’ security… If a BJP government comes in, how will it look at this legislation? Will there be amendments?
It won’t be apt to comment on the future of these Bills. The rules and regulations haven’t been codified, have just been floated. The Gehlot government has formed 19 boards in the past four months, one of each caste. Each board has just had an announcement. No president, no member, no mandate, no work, no workplace, no office, just a letter. That’s all. That’s the status of legislation, too. No work done at the grassroots.
A year ago, Home Minister Amit Shah had announced we would fight elections in Rajasthan as a collective and not declare a CM candidate. This message has settled in the minds of people and BJP cadre
Shahid Pervez: You’re a fierce rival of Ashok Gehlot. The arc of your political journeys is similar, student politics to first-time MPs and then junior ministers at the Centre. He’s CM, you could be CM-aspirant. What about these parallels?
There aren’t any. He’s far more senior to me in age and experience. He does politics 24 hours, I can’t do that much. When he fought his first election, I was eight years old. I am 55 now, his career spans 47 years. I’ve read in the media that he was dropped from the Union Ministry thrice for non-performance. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened to me. Though his son fought the Lok Sabha elections against me in 2019 from Jodhpur, it was he who did all the groundwork, holding 122 of his 162 nationwide meetings in my constituency.
Shyamlal Yadav: What’s the status of investigations in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam, where allegations were made against you?
No member from three generations of my family has been the director/employer/borrower/agent/primary member of that society. When I was about to contest the 2014 election, I bought a plot of land in the name of a private limited company where I had one-third share. The remaining two-third shares had already been with the society director. I gave up my share and he paid me via cheque. I paid my tax on it. Still they alleged that I got money from the society. This transaction happened at the end of 2013.
They alleged that I had bought land in Ethiopia. First of all, any farmland there can be gotten on lease only and I got mine in 2007, so no connection with Sanjivani is possible. The lease amount was Rs 17 per acre per annum and I had 12,000 acres of land. This meant my lease amount would be Rs 2 to 3 crore. I couldn’t afford it, so gave up most of it. We used to grow pulses there, now we have shifted to banana.
Amitabh Sinha: Is the government thinking about interlinking rivers. What about the 30 detailed project reports (DPRs)?
No. A total of 31 links were conceived, 15 of which had DPRs. The rest got PFR (project final report) barring two with the concerned states turning them down as unworkable. One link is being worked on while three to four have been identified. Consensus-building is the issue and States need to agree as water is a State subject.
There have been issues between MP and UP, where rivers could have been integrated. Water management should have been in the Concurrent list, ideally. We are one nation, need one water gate. If the rain is 15 to 17 per cent less, things go dry every year. When climate change is so visible, we need a system where water from within the country can be sent from anywhere to anywhere.
Liz Mathew: The PM has said that the BJP would be coming back to power in 2024. How confident is the party?
There’s no question here. Modiji said from Red Fort that we’re coming back, so we are super-confident. We weren’t concerned before either. Now that Modiji has declared, India isn’t unsure either. There’s no challenge.
Liz Mathew: But such a declaration was made in 2004 too with the India Shining campaign…
I’m not talking about the 2004 mandate. We shouldn’t be comparing apples with oranges. Now we are a majority government and have instilled confidence. We have the people’s blessings because we have brought drinking water to the homes of 9.5 crore people, given them gas stoves, employment and homes.
Many years ago, I read an article that said that a governing system can’t be read on a scale of 100 years. It should be read on a scale of 1,000 years. The author wrote that during the Nehru era, our voters behaved like a two-year-old child, during the Indira years, they behaved like a five-year-old child but after 75 years of independence, India’s voter is a six-year-old who can’t be fooled. You can’t show him the moon and distract him. If that child wants a video game, he needs a delivery. Modiji has delivered. That’s why we are confident.
Liz Mathew: Does I.N.D.I.A, the Opposition party alliance, bother you?
They were together earlier, too. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) and DMK were against us earlier, too. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar’s party was aligned with us and in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he benefitted more from BJP’s voters than we did from his. Without him, we’ll get the same mandate. These parties can’t get together to fight an election simply because they are adversaries at the Assembly level.
P Vaidyanathan Iyer: In the last two months, there has been a lot of communal politics, particularly in Nuh. Will this subside ever?
The Nuh incident, though regrettable, is totally different. It doesn’t have a political angle. But I’m sure that the politics of polarisation started by the Congress naturally has some bad outcomes. We should try to eradicate violence completely.
P Vaidyanathan Iyer: When Hindu parties say they’ll continue with their yatra, does it raise the temperature?
It’s their right. Why should they stop? I’ve said this in Rajasthan too. Due permission was taken in Karauli town and a shobhayatra was taken out on Ram Navami on the route decided by the government. Despite having intelligence that there could be some trouble, the police was not prepared. Instead, rioters assembled on rooftops and brought truckloads of stones to be hurled at processionists. Whose fault was this?
Then the government imposed a restriction and allowed the PFI to take out a procession under police protection. Such political behaviour is creating such circumstances in the country. It’s so unfortunate that on Eid and Muharram there’s an official order that electricity shouldn’t be cut in certain areas. Then you tell Hindus you can’t take out a procession under Section 144. Appeasement politics makes society resist with greater force.
Harikishan Sharma: The bulldozer has become the symbol of instant justice in many BJP-ruled states like UP and MP. Will the BJP follow it if it comes to power in Rajasthan?
India has a law and a Constitution, which should be followed. Modiji has repealed IPC and CrPC Acts and replaced them with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, respectively. The Bombay bomb blast culprits are still free. That’s why people turn to such acts of instant justice. If we fix our practices, it will all be okay.
