Amidst an unprecedented lockdown and information crackdown in the Valley, as the minister in charge of disseminating information, Union I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar has the challenging task of explaining the government’s position. As the BJP’s spokesperson in Delhi for close to a decade, Javadekar is one of the most visible faces in the party and government. Having held the key portfolio of HRD in earlier Modi government, he was fielded to firefight the three-language controversy overdraft education policy. He counts streamlining of clearances to projects by Environment Ministry, a portfolio he continues to hold, as one of his key achievements. RAVISH TIWARI: In the middle of the recently concluded Parliament session, you called a press conference to talk about the work done by the government in first 50 days. That is unusual. Earlier, governments used to come out with annual reports. Then we started reporting every 100 days. But this time, the speed and scale were such that we thought it better to report earlier to the people of India, who have given us such a tremendous mandate. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji had planned this in advance because we were told what we can do in 100 days. Since people were with us and had voted us in, we didn’t want to lose a single moment. In 50 days, so many things were done. RAVISH TIWARI: This was an eventful session for Parliament and a lot of key Bills were passed. But the Opposition is accusing the government of misusing its mandate to ram through legislation without scrutiny. That’s not true. A majority of the Bills passed in this session were carried forward from the previous session. The Rajya Sabha had played the role of a speedbreaker. These Bills were passed in the Lok Sabha and sent to standing committees, but were not passed in the Rajya Sabha. Therefore, they had lapsed, had to be introduced again, and then they cleared both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. This is the will of the people, not brute majority. We have actually been more democratic than the previous Congress government. RAVISH TIWARI: But the allegation is that the BJP engineered defections in the Rajya Sabha to manage numbers and push crucial Bills such as triple talaq and Article 370. This creates suspicion in the minds of people. What is the suspicion? The triple talaq Bill was twice sent to the select committee. All Bills have gone through Parliament scrutiny. And let us not demonise Parliament — as if parliamentary committees are much more important than Parliament. Let us not fall prey to that mischievous campaign. The real issue is people have sided with Modiji and now those in other parties are feeling pressured. Look at yesterday’s (August 7) Congress meeting (that discussed J&K). There is a clear difference of opinion regarding Article 370. So when this happens, there will definitely be people who would like to come (and join us). And they have resigned their seats (and joined us). So what can be the objection? RAVISH TIWARI: You held the Environment Ministry for the first two years (2014-16) of the last government. What change do you notice now after assuming charge of the ministry this year? From your experience, what do you think is yet to be achieved? When I took charge of the Environment Ministry in 2014, it was seen as a road-block ministry with anti-progress policies. That has changed. The average time taken for proposals to get sanctions was 640 days. I brought it down to 180 days. Subsequently, in the last three years, it has come down to 108 days. And this is without compromising environmental considerations. Therefore, our theory is ‘protect environment, ensure growth’. So both growth and environmental protection are possible. Take for instance, the Metro in Delhi. There was hue and cry by NGOs when trees were cut to build Metro stations. Now we have 271 stations. Thousands of trees were felled but thousands were also replanted. Now we have five times more greenery compared to earlier times and a public transport system for three million people every day. This is how we are ensuring the best solution. HARISH DAMODARAN: The seed industry’s estimate is that 30-35 lakh packets of HTBT GM cotton are being sold. The government considers the seeds illegal, but these are being planted. Why doesn’t the government take a stand on this matter? As far as herbicide-tolerant BT (HTBt) crops are concerned, we had one application, which the applicant withdrew. There is no application pending before us. HARISH DAMODARAN: But people are openly growing it and the government is looking the other way. Law enforcement and land are with the states. These are not the subject matter of the Centre. APURVA VISHWANATH: There are vacancies in the National Green Tribunal. Except for the principal bench in Delhi, no other bench is functioning. Everyone is approaching the principal bench, and it is taking about a month and a half to list a case. Is there a plan to revitalise the NGT? The NGT is an important institution. NGT office-bearers had told me that they are conducting video conferences, so that is not an issue. As far as NGT orders are concerned, these are opinions of various stakeholders. But we follow the law. A judge is judge anywhere. If one judge is listening to the case, you can’t say that somebody else must listen. ESHA ROY: The time taken to grant environment clearances has come down. Is it being brought down any further? I want to streamline processes without compromising environmental considerations. While protecting the environment, we must allow development to take place because that is how sustainable growth can be achieved. And we are committed to sustainable growth. After the Paris Agreement (2016), we have been achieving our targets and walking the talk. We have already achieved energy efficiency of nearly 20-25 per cent and we will be achieving 35 per cent by 2030. When Modiji declared a target of 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022, people thought it was impossible. But we are progressing well. More than 15,000 sq km of forest cover was added. And this is very good news for the country. We have taken decisions regarding e-mobility, BS-VI norms, change of fuel, building highways etc. Unnecessary processes and time wastage should be removed. KRISHN KAUSHIK: The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in the morning (August 5) and passed the same day. Do you think the Opposition has no constructive role to play at all? The Opposition participated and discussed (the Bill). We first passed it in the Rajya Sabha and then in the Lok Sabha and all parties participated in the discussion. That is how democracy works.. I wonder why you people have objections if the government is working fast. and if we are taking pro-people decisions. People should rejoice. RAVISH TIWARI: You went to jail during the Emergency, fighting for the freedom of the press. But now in the Valley, there is a complete information crackdown — newspapers are not being printed, messages are not being delivered. This is not true. Doordarshan is working. Akashvani is being broadcast in all languages. Media is visiting different places in the Valley. This is not Emergency. Precaution is not Emergency. Don’t misread. Emergency was an upfront attack and the only attack that happened in India after Independence. Niren De (Attorney General of India during the Emergency years) had said that the government had the right to take the life of any person. My father was then a sub-editor at Daily Kesari. On June 25 (1975), he was on night shift. He returned in the morning and said police officers, who knew nothing about news, came to his office and asked to be shown the news. They would then decide what was to be published, and how. That was a frontal attack on democracy. And very few in the journalistic fraternity protested. RAVISH TIWARI: Two former chief ministers (Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah) are in jail.. Precaution should not be construed as a policy. You will very soon see normalcy returning to Jammu and Kashmir. RAVISH TIWARI: You call it ‘precaution’ and Indira Gandhi called it ‘maintenance of internal security’.. This is an absolute injustice to us because we are a democratic government. We are a successful democracy and people thought that Modi is delivering and therefore we must vote for him. People voted on their own and that is democracy. And therefore, we should not demean the action of precaution. SARTHAK RAY: The Bombay High Court recently scrapped the Rs 14,000 crore coastal road project and said certain processes were improper. If processes are not followed properly and if there are discrepancies, the court has a duty to point it out and the government will complete it. And the coastal road will be build. SUNIL JAIN: The government is talking about Bharat Stage VI engines. But the NITI Aayog has said that by 2025, there will only be electric vehicles and no new production of internal combustion engines will be carried out. What is your view on the matter? We must understand the size of our economy, population, the spread of the country which will be using the vehicles. Electrical mobility will be subsidised, patronised and promoted. But ultimately, it can’t happen in one day. So till that time, you will require petrol and diesel engines also. One should welcome it. Producers and manufacturers who were not ready to adjust to BS-VI norms have come on board. And from April 1, 2020, every new car will have BS-VI engines. Let us wait and see what actually happens. Decisions are ultimately taken by the Cabinet. RAVISH TIWARI: What was the kind of consultation that took place in the government as well as the party with regards to Jammu and Kashmir? This has been the BJP’s stand for 50 years. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of the BJP, laid down his life for this. So it’s not new. The strategy and policy should not be confused. The strategy has to be that we should not create unnecessary panic, manage the situation peacefully and it should benefit all. And that is what is happening. RAVISH TIWARI: The government is arresting and detaining leaders of mainstream political parties. Why is the government afraid of democratic leaders in the state? The UPA government was in power for 10 years. In those 10 years, our parliamentary delegations were detained at many places which witnessed atrocities against Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes. Memory should not be so short. KRISHN KAUSHIK: A channel named NaMo TV was started during the Lok Sabha elections. There was a lot of confusion about its ownership and status. With such loopholes in the law, can there not be security threats? (Law and Justice Minister) Ravi Shankar Prasadji is taking steps in this regard. RAVISH TIWARI:What are the challenges you are expecting to face in Jammu and Kashmir now? The challenge is countering misinformation. Deliberate, mischievous campaigns are the only challenge. Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes get political reservation right from the gram panchayat to the Lok Sabha, but in Kashmir, this was not there. Under the Right to Education, 25 per cent seats in private schools are reserved for poor children throughout the country, but not in Kashmir. Don’t poor children from J&K have the right to go to private schools? The 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments (passed in 1992) gave panchayats real power. There were no elections in Kashmir but we conducted these successfully with 50-70 per cent voter turnout. People will be happy because they will get the powers they were denied.. So this is a way to empower common people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The way the Ladakh MP spoke (in Parliament) shows the aspiration of the people of the region. RAVISH TIWARI: Rajya Sabha member Vaiko said the government has put Kashmir in a Kosovo-like situation.. I don’t subscribe to what Vaiko has said, but it is a democratic country and he has the right to speak his mind. (Home Minister) Amit Shah responded saying Kashmir will never be like Kosovo. That is an entirely different situation. We are a peaceful country. Wait for 15 days and see the reaction of the people of Kashmir. PRABHUDATTA MISHRA: We have not seen any new GM crop being approved by the current government. What is the government’s policy regarding GM crops? Before the final approval is given, there is a process of getting it (a GM crop) examined more thoroughly and field trials were recommended. But no state government gave the permission and land has to be given by the state government. So what can we do? RAVISH TIWARI: New technology has disrupted the media industry. There is a legal vacuum as far as digital news platforms are concerned. What will be the government’s approach to tackle this issue? Digital content is covered by the Information Technology Act. But now there are regular newspapers in digital format. There is Over-the-Top content in film format, which then goes to the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification), but there is no Press Council for digital (media platforms). So there is a gap. We have not started the process of dealing with this.
