‘Many people lose jobs. Do they all become criminals?’

• While only a few people frequent dance bars, Bollywood films with so-called ‘‘item numbers’’ by actresses are vie...

• While only a few people frequent dance bars, Bollywood films with so-called ‘‘item numbers’’ by actresses are viewed by people across the country. So what are you doing to check that?
Manish Singh

The Maharashtra Government is not acting as the moral police, as projected by the media. The decision was necessitated due to a law and order problem along with complaints from women’s organisations that the families of men frequenting dance bars were suffering a lot. Also, some police personnel were insisting on postings in areas where most dance bars were located, for obvious reasons. Even residents of the buildings where these bars were located were complaining. So, it was a conscious decision of the government to ban them. Objectionable scenes in films or television are a different issue, and the Maharashtra government has no plans to check that. Besides, that comes under the Centre’s jurisdiction.

• If you are genuinely concerned about the youth and Indian culture, why not ban the vulgar dance shows, lingerie fashion shows, and other theme shows in five-star hotels, where the models, unlike the bar girls, are scantily clad. Prostitution happens in these five-star hotels too, not just in dance bars.
Amjad K Maruf

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People attending fashion shows or programmes in five-star hotels do not directly create law and order problems. I am not saying that prostitution does not happen in five-star hotels, but it is done discreetly. Besides, most of the people frequenting dance bars are from the middle-class and lower strata of society, and it puts their families in trouble if they spend a lot of money there, unlike the wealthy who go these five-star hotels. Still, I personally feel the law should be the same for all, irrespective of class and religion.

• The image of the Mumbai Police has taken a beating after the recent rape episode and corruption in all ranks. How do you propose to reverse the situation and instill confidence among the public?
V P Damodar

I agree that an inhuman act by a constable has defamed the police. But can we hold the entire force responsible for the misdeeds of one drunken policeman? In Sangli (Western Maharashtra) a person raped his step-daughter, and a judge was accused of rape in Malegaon (North Maharashtra). Can we hold the entire society guilty for their crimes? The government has taken strict action, we are charging the policeman under Sections of the IPC by which he can even get life imprisonment. After a long time, the government used its special powers under Article 311 of the Constitution and dismissed him from service without waiting for any inquiry. I am looking into the root cause of the problem. We are preparing a list of policemen who have the habit of drinking liquor while on duty. They will all be terminated from service. Also, meditation courses are being organised for the policemen since most of them are suffering from stress-related problems.

• Shouldn’t you have made proper plans for the rehabilitation of the bar dancers before snatching away their livelihood?
Bal Govind

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The decision was announced by me in the Assembly after a long debate in which legislators from all parties demanded the ban. As far as rehabilitation is concerned, the State and Central Government have various schemes for self-employment. Millions of women in rural Maharashtra are taking benefit of them. We are ready to implement similar schemes for rehabilitation of bar girls.

• Why did you initially avoid banning the dance bars in Mumbai while imposing the ban in the rest of Maharashtra? Was it because the decision makers and other authorities were somehow linked to these bars?
Subhash C Agrawal

When I declared the ban, I did not bother to find out whether any of the decision-makers were owning them. The March 30 debate in the Maharashtra Assembly was initially limited to rural areas of the State. Hence, I had announced the ban on dance bars outside Mumbai. Later, there were demands for a ban in Mumbai too. I took the proposal before the Cabinet and it was unanimously decided to impose the ban even in Mumbai.

• At a time when your State faces more serious problems like starvation deaths, spiralling fiscal deficit, expanding slums, is banning dance bars really an immediate need and not just a populist step? By banning such bars, aren’t you just trying to grab the conservative constituency of the State?
Pranav Sachdeva

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Let me clarify that the decision was not taken to derive any mileage. There was no political plan. It was the response of the government to the demands made by all-party legislators in the Assembly. After all, in a democracy the government has to listen to the elected representatives. I am sure the media would have criticised me had I refused to ban the dance bars too. The government is aware of the problems faced by the State and is trying to solve them.

• Since the ban on dance bars has been ordered without any thought, isn’t there a greater risk to the State’s morality as these bar dancers turn to prostitution as an alternative source of income?
Pathik

I don’t believe in this. So many people, including women, lose their jobs because of closure of factories. Do they all become criminals? If you are not used to easy money, you would not think of anti-social ways to earn money. Let me repeat, there are millions of women in India who are earning money in a respectful way.