Growth here is inclusive

V.S. Achuthanandan: We are charting a new path in governance. - H. VIBHU

Interview with V.S. Achuthanandan, Chief Minister of Kerala.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala entered its third year in office in the backdrop of media reports highlighting the differences within the ruling coalition, particularly between the CPI(M) and the Communist Party of India (CPI). It was pointed out that the two Left parties continued the sparring they started around the first anniversary of the government. Differences over the manner in which the eviction of land encroachers was carried out in the hill district of Munnar had come up prominently at that time. Around the second anniversary, the disagreement between the two parties was essentially about an integrated food security project that the government was trying to advance. The parties were also seen to be at variance with each other in terms of certain issues relating to a proposal to take over the Trivandrum Golf Club.

Even as these controversies hogged the headlines, the leaders of the government and the LDF maintained that the government was progressing with new and innovative programmes that made significant and positive impact on the lives of people. It was in this context that Frontline met Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan for an interview. VS, as he is normally addressed all over Kerala, spoke at length about the issues facing his government and the priorities and concerns of the LDF. Going into the specifics of various projects and initiatives, he emphasised that the current Kerala government was taking the Kerala model of development into new areas and charting a unique path in governance. Excerpts:

The celebration of the second anniversary of the government seems to be marred by a number of arguments within the ruling coalition. In fact, the majority of media reports about the government relate to one controversy or the other. There is also the perception that the government is known more for the controversies it generates than for socio-economic initiatives. How do you see all this?

There are two sides to your question. One side is about the differences in the government and the other side is about the medias analysis of the functioning of the government. I have no hesitation in saying that the partners of the LDF have different perceptions on many issues relating to Keralas social and economic life as well as its development. In democratic functioning it is natural to have different views and perceptions. I would even say that if there are no differences and everyone agrees with one another, it is not good for democracy. Hence, what you see in the LDF are only expressions of a sense of democracy. We discuss all this at various forums of the LDF and the government and come to a decision that is finally accepted by one and all. Ideally, all these discussions and democratic expressions should be within the confines of the forums of the LDF and the government, but it does not happen like that always.

I am of the view that the media are free to project all this through writing or the television screen. But having said that, it is also not right to act as though these expressions of differences are the only items worthy of coverage. Unfortunately, that is what has been happening in the Kerala media firmament. I suppose it is not a wrong thing to expect some kind of commitment to facts and objectivity from the media. That would require a readiness to study issues in depth and refrain from hair-splitting. But some sections of the Kerala media have no time to study, and they indulge in mere sensationalism all the time. And it is these sections who say that the LDF government cannot be commended for its socio-economic initiatives. In fact, I would like to assert that our government is engaged in a bold new experiment in Kerala, which should be of interest to not only India as a nation, but also the entire Third World. I would say that we are advancing the famed Kerala model into new areas of socio-economic development and charting a new path in governance.

That is indeed a major claim. How would you substantiate it?

Actually, it is not very difficult to substantiate my assertion. If any of my media friends or analysts take the trouble to study the functioning of the government and analyse the track record of various departments closely, they can understand what I am saying. One of the foremost things I would highlight is the very difference in the approach that our government has in terms of governance and development. Our philosophy is not to measure success on the basis of economic growth alone. Economic growth bypassing large sections of the poor is meaningless. The greatest thing about the Kerala phenomenon is that the growth here is an inclusive one, the government vigilant and careful about taking the fruits of development to every section of society. To state it differently, I would say that we are silently evolving an alternative model of growth and development in this era of globalisation and liberalisation that leaves out no section of society, and the peoples happiness index is very high.

The poor becoming poorer and getting more marginalised is a common product of the neoliberal policies of the present era. We have witnessed this in our country, with thousands of farmers in Vidarbha [Maharashtra], Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere committing suicide because of debt. We had this problem in our State too. Hundreds of farmers ended their lives in Kerala during the five-year tenure of the previous Congress-led United Democratic Front [UDF] government. The first thing we did on taking office was to set up of a Farmers Debt Relief Commission, besides providing compensation to the families of all the suicide victims. The government stepped in with a liberal helping hand whenever crop damage occurred owing to bad weather.

Traditional fishermen, one of the poorest sections of society, too are being freed from the shackles of debt with the recent formation of the Kerala Fishermens Debt Relief Commission. Already a moratorium has been declared on proceedings relating to all debts incurred by poor fishermen from banks and cooperatives. We have launched an ambitious scheme named after the legendary Communist leader E.M.S. Namboodiripad, which will, within the next three years, make Kerala the first State in the country to achieve the goal of shelter for all.

Large sections of workers in the unorganised sector, including those working in small plantations, and shops and business establishments, have recently been brought under the social security net. The government distributed one acre of fertile land each to 1,717 landless tribal families at Aralam Farm in Kannur district. Steps are on to give land to all tribal people with no land of their own. All this has been possible because of the dedication and commitment of the government, along with efficient and imaginative management of the State finances. The very fact that revenue collection has increased by 75 per cent in two years is testimony to this.

In terms of economic statistics, too, growth has been impressive. Our gross domestic product in real terms increased by more than 8 per cent in 2006-07, despite its production sector being dominated by plantation crops, the prices of which fluctuated violently under the nations liberalised import policies. With the tourism sector growing remarkably fast and the production sector as a whole recovering from the bad phase of the recent years, the State is all set to record a level of economic growth that is higher than that for the country as a whole.

At the social level, our government has become the first government in the country to initiate steps to evolve a new womens policy. In the health sector, we are the very first government in all of Asia to come up with a palliative care policy.

It has been consistently pointed out that while Keralas social indices may be high, its record in terms of infrastructure development is not up to the mark.

We are taking steps to correct that anomaly, too. In fact, unprecedented things are happening in the sphere of infrastructure development. The tender process has just been completed for setting up a Deepwater Container Transshipment Terminal at Vizhinjam, near the capital city. This Rs.5,348-crore project will make Vizhinjam the hub of container transshipment business not only in the country, but also in the whole of South Asia, because of the proximity of the place to the international shipping route. Work on the Container Transshipment Project at Vallarpadam in Kochi is due to begin in a months time. A national waterway, virtually running along the entire length of the State from Neeleswaram in the northern district of Kasaragod to Kovalam in the southern Thiruvananthapuram district, facilitating inexpensive movement of cargo and boosting tourism, will become a reality in three years.

Firm offers for private investment in the industry sector in the State now come up to nearly Rs.20,000 crore. While the previous government was trying to disinvest even some of the profit-making PSUs [public sector undertakings] in line with the anti-PSU sentiments of the Centres neoliberal policies, the LDF government, virtually taking the bull by the horns, succeeded in turning around the fortunes of even many of the loss-making units, by giving them a sense of direction. The number of profit-making PSUs increased from 12 to 27 during the last two years. KELTEC, a State PSU with unique expertise in the production of components for the aerospace industry, but with doubtful prospects as an independent unit, has been taken over by BrahMos Aerospace Limited, the Indo-Russian missile-manufacturing company. The country is expecting this development to make Thiruvananthapuram, where the new BrahMos unit is located, a major centre of aerospace industry.

One of the celebrated initiatives of the government around its first anniversary was the freeing up of land from encroachers, particularly in the hill district of Munnar. But that initiative seems to have come to a grinding halt.

Look, when we launched the Munnar initiative it was widely accepted as a great social endeavour and even the judiciary had the same perception. However, hundreds of petitions were filed against the initiative by vested interests and many of the sites proposed to be released came under judicial purview. In such a situation, the government lessened the speed with which it was freeing up. Even now, it has only slackened on account of the judicial dimension and the initiative will pick up momentum as and when we get over the current restrictions.

There is a stream of opinion both within Kerala and outside that many of the governments initiatives are nothing but gimmickry. The Munnar initiative was branded like that. The recent drive against false god-men and god-women is also being criticised on the same lines.

This is again either disinformation or criticism on the basis of misinformation. Whatever the present state of the Munnar initiative, the fact remains that the LDF government was able to free thousands of acres of ecologically sensitive public land in Munnar and nearby areas from encroachers. The drive against false god-men and god-women also has a similar positive impact. It has helped thousands of poor and gullible people to get out of the clutches of these swindlers. The drive has also emphasised that the LDF governments law and order machinery would seek justice irrespective of the status of the culprit.

Through its victory in Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] has succeeded in forming a government on its own for the first time in South India. Is the saffronisation of your border State a cause of concern for the Left in Kerala?

There have been attempts, many times in the past, to destabilise Keralas traditional political culture of communal harmony and religious tolerance. But that has never worked. The legacy of the first Communist government of 1957 is well preserved in Kerala. Hence, we are not worried about the saffronisation of the State or about communal influence creeping into our society. But, certainly at the political level, the BJPs expansion to a new geographical region is a cause of concern for all secular forces in the country. It emphasises the need for greater caution and concerted action from all secular forces.