The Director of Information, Gujarat Government, has written:This refers to the item called Modi’s Mini Cabinet in Rajeev Shukla’s column (Front Foot, June 10).The columnist is one of the spokespersons of the Congress party. The article is full of factual errors and subjective judgment and thus can mislead readers of your esteemed newspaper.• The opening statement, which says that there are only five Cabinet ministers, is wrong — Gujarat has nine Cabinet ministers and 16 ministers of state.The columnist observed that the Cabinet was full of yes-men and the smaller ministries could not have elaborate discussions. It is factually incorrect. The Cabinet meetings are not only attended by all the ministers of state but they are equal participants. The Cabinet meets every Wednesday and spends three hours or more on various issues in two parts — an informal session followed by a formal one. It is very difficult for anybody to assess the level of discussions in the Cabinet meeting without first-hand experience.•n The write-up says that Narendra Modi’s development model is confined to very few urban centres and a vast majority of interior Gujarat is deprived of electricity and water. This is factually incorrect.Gujarat celebrated the second unique Krishi Mahotsav where all the 18,000 villages are visited by a scientist from an agricultural university, district officer and a minister or an elected representative.This dialogue between the scientists, farmers and officers has helped to bring the agricultural production of Gujarat from Rs 9,000 crore p.a. to Rs 28,000 crore.• The unique and first-of-its-kind scheme of Soil Health Card was successfully implemented in the last two years. Gujarat is the only state where all the 18,000 villages are supplied uninterrupted power 24 hours.A study by the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) reported that this revolutionary project of Jyotirgram had a positive impact on the quality of life in rural areas. It has improved the self-employment scenario, education, health care and entertainment in Gujarat villages. These are facts that are not only recognised by the Planning Commission but are followed by a number of states.• Water scarcity has become a matter of the past — there were 4,900 tankers deployed in 2001, which has been now reduced to only 125, making Gujarat ‘‘a tanker-free state’’ for drinking water.• Irrigation water management based on participatory model has been successfully implemented in all villages, piped water supply has reached 14,000 villages and 154 towns.• The Green Revolution Company, established from the profits of PSUs, is spearheading the second Green Revolution through sprinkler and drip irrigation systems.• The success of two global investors summits organised by Government of Gujarat are considered landmark marketing exercises. The MoUs signed were worth Rs 1,72,228 crore — and Parliament has been told that Gujarat has the highest implementation ratio among the most industrialised states in India.Gujarat attracted 22 per cent of India’s industrial investment, has 30 per cent share in market capital and 24 per cent of fund flow from financial institutions. To say that Gujarat doesn’t have industrial investment or bring foreign investment is like denying sunlight.The column ends with a very surprising untruth about information technology companies. The BPO industry is booming in Gujarat and the last one to make huge investment through a software park near Gandhinagar is Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
