Mayawati,reformer!

Beyond malas amp; memorials,BSPs trying out bold ideas in UP. This calls for applause and support

Torrent Power Limited,a private sector power distribution company that runs networks in several cities mainly in Gujarat and Maharashtra has now added one more to its stable: Agra. Uttar Pradesh,the casual reader might think,is not a Gujarat or Maharashtra,not the first state

in which one would think that processes to rationalise urban Indias public utilities would be put in place. But that is a crucial narrative of UP under the Bahujan Samaj Party lost in the all-encompassing din thats born of reflexive negativity about Chief Minister Mayawatis malas and memorials. Agra is but the first town in a comprehensive attempt initiated in November 2008 to privatise UP electricity delivery,in order to cut down on theft and depoliticise the collection of user fees. But most of the other towns have not yet had enough reasonable bidders for the process to move forward.

This is but one of the occasions in which the reformist instincts of the UP government have neither been sufficiently acknowledged in our public discourse nor have they been supported by other players to the extent they should have been. The focus on the social churning that the BSP represents is,of course,convenient for those who would like to think of its autocratic leader as a potential figurehead for a mushy,regionalist,anti-progressive third front-kind of force; the crucial glue in any such doomed enterprise,the Left,has every incentive to shut its eyes to any reformist,pragmatic instincts that Mayawati might demonstrate.

Its less clear,however,why attempts by a state government to push its administration towards effectiveness,to create vital growth-supporting infrastructure,should be ignored by those with a stake in making that happen. On March 23,the UP government put out a very unusual press release. It wasnt one that asked for more Central funds. It didnt accuse the Centre of pushing it into reform that it didnt want. Instead,the statement listed what the state government wanted to get built: coal power plants; widening of highways; private participation in education; new airports. And,instead of demanding handouts,it asked for clearances and approvals from Central ministries. Such urgency is welcome but as the UP government pushes ahead with these projects,it should remember that key to the success of refom are accountability, transparency and best practices,three attributes so far quite alien to Lucknow. These need to take roots in Agra for the state governments reform programme to appear credible and sustainable.