Myth of Vibrant Gujarat
An E Digest
Compilation of Articles on the development-decadence of Gujarat
Compiled by Ram Puniyani
(For Private Circulation)
Institute for Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
&
All India Secular Forum
602 & 603, New Silver Star, Behind BEST Bus Depot,
Santacruz (E), Mumbai: - 400 055.
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
CONTENTS
Page No.
Preface
1.Introductiory Article……………………………………………………. 04
2. Anna Hazare’s Comments about development of
Rural Gujarat …………………………………………………………… 09
3. Whose Gujarat is Vibrant? …………………………………………. 14
4. Vibrant Gujarat Again ……………………………………………….. 15
5. The Monumental Myth of Vibrant Gujarat ………………….. 16
6. Box
16,000 Farmers, workers ended life during ………………………………. 18
Modi’s tenure
7. Margin Speak …………………………………………………………… 20
8. Relative Development of Gujarat and Socio-Religious
Differentials……………………………………………………………… 24
9. Marginalizing Muslim in Gujarat ………………………………. 26
10. Interview ………………………………………………………………. 28
11. Resources ………………………………………………………………. 30
Preface
During my childhood I had heard a story from a friend. A Nawab had borrowed a lot of money and had no means to pay back to his creditors. He would attend to his rather demanding and angry creditors oh is doors and tell them that he had sold every furniture of his house to pay them and had nothing left and pleaded them to be left alone. However the creditors could not believe as they imagined a beautiful palace behind the beautiful curtains that were drawn all the time when they peeped through the windows of the palace. Once an angry creditor pulled down the curtains to get a better view of the palace. He was shocked to find nothing in the palace except the walls and all the members of the house did not have even clothes to cover their naked bodies. The Nawab gave away the costly curtains to the creditor pleading that whole world has now witnessed the naked truth and the curtains are of no use to him now.
The MOUs touted by the Nawab of Gujarat are much like the curtains of the palace in the story acting like a smoke screen to cover the nakedness of its occupants. The more naked the family members in the palace, the costlier are the curtains put up to cover up the nakedness. The Public Relations machinery of the Gujarat works hard to juggle with selected figures and statistics and spreads it far and wide through expensive PR budget – the curtains that cover Gujarat are not only expensive, but also thick and impregnable – so the Nawab of Gujarat thinks. The MOU curtains cover, for example the fact that the most backward district of the country is the Dangs district of Gujarat. The creditors of the Nawab are the people of Gujarat, the tax payers of Gujarat.
The Nawab in the story was at least trying to protect the dignity of the members of the family by putting up those costly curtains, though he had borrowed a lot of money for his pleasure and to showcase his status. The Nawab of Gujarat invites the capitalist vultures from outside in his vibrant Gujarat programmes and assists them to pull away the remaining scanty pieces of clothes from the bodies of the helpless members and raid the remaining furniture inside the ‘Gujarat Palace’ in the form its natural resources, land, water and environment. In return, the Nawab has been promised that he will supported by them to become Emperor of India.
The creditors (tax payers) of Gujarat are not yet as demanding and feel powerless as compared to the creditors of the Nawab in the story. The smoke screen of development and MOUs is intact.
The compilation in this digest to be circulated through e-mail networks and in hard copy is the act of angry activists and academicians representing the tax payers of Gujarat, particularly the marginalized sections in Gujarat – the adivasis, dalits, farmers, the landless, women, artisans, workers, casual labourers and the backward classes amongst the minorities, who resemble the creditors in the story and are pulling down the curtains one by one to enable a peep in the palace (swarnim Gujarat) that Narendra Modi claims he has made. As the reader goes through the articles in the compilation, the curtains are pulled one by one it is for the reader to judge whether the inhabitants of the palace are naked or well provided for. The contributors to this compilation have done a difficult job as the mountains of propaganda have to be dug to tease out the mole of truth. To penetrate the thick and strong veil of swarnim Gujarat the tools in the hands of the activists and academicians are preliminary but they do the job honourably.
Our thanks the Ram Puniyani for the painstaking effort.
Irfan Engineer
14th April 2011.
1. Introductory Article
(i)
Myth of Vibrant Gujarat
Ram Puniyani
N
early nine years after the carnage of Gujarat (Feb 2011), a perception has been created that Gujarat is developing with rapid strides, there is all peace and harmony and minorities are happy. Like ‘Shining India’ a word has been coined, ‘Vibrant Gujarat’.
Nothing can be farther from truth. In the aftermath of the violence, the death of over two thousand Muslims, the rapes, the humiliation at the hands of instigated mobs, are still fresh in the air as the state has totally been unjust to the victims of the violence. There was no rehabilitation worth its name, the ‘refugee camps’ were closed too soon. State totally washed its hands off the rehabilitation process.
Today while the few amongst the Muslim minorities, especially a section of traders, have been won over by the BJP and dominant social forces, the majority of Muslim community has been forced to live the life of severe social and economic deprivation. The trend of ghettoization is increasing in major cities and expanding. Juhapura is the showpiece of the fear and insecurity which has gripped the Muslim community. Many a traders are trying to continue with their businesses in old localities while settling their families in the Muslim ghettoes like Juhapura. Most of the Muslim establishments have changed their names and patterns to sound like being the Hindu establishments, with the hope that this will prevent their religion being identified in the future pogroms, protect their property, and this move will overcome the economic boycott from the majority community. Incidentally this call of economic boycott of Muslims has been given by VHP. The domination of Modi/BJP in the social and political arena is leading to the situation where a large section of Muslims is forced to hide their pain and anger and carry on with the ignominies of their situations. Remarkably many a social groups from amongst Muslim communities are concentrating their work in the area of education; preparing the youth to take up jobs in the fields that are free from discrimination, and to prepare them to traditional and newer avenues of self employment.
A major study by Abdul Saleh Sharif (Relative Development of Gujarat and Socio-Religious Differentials, 2011) is very revealing about the condition of Muslims. This shows that Muslims fare very badly on the parameters of poverty, hunger, education and vulnerability on security issues. The study shows that levels of hunger are high in Gujarat alongside Orissa and Bihar. Muslims are educationally deprived. Muslim community which at one time was dominating in diamond and textile trade has been pushed behind. Poverty of Gujarat Muslims is 8 times more than high caste Hindus and 50% more than OBCs. Twelve per cent Muslims have bank accounts but only 2.6% of them get bank loans. This study concludes that Muslims in Gujarat face high levels of discrimination, even on the roll out of NREGA, Gujarat is at the bottom of the pile. (TOI, Feb 18, 2011, Mumbai)
As per the report of Pratham, an NGO devoted to the issues of education (Annual Status of Education Report), Gujarat is worse than Bihar when it comes to educational standards. Gujarat has been doing miserably in Social development indices and its budgetary allotment in this sector is low compared to other large states, being 17th amongst the 18 large states. While all this is happening, the mental ghettoes, the emotional partitions have become fairly strong and physical ghettoes tell the real truth of Gujarat, the ‘Hindu Rashtra in One State’. Those displaced due to carnage are living with no civic facilities reaching them. The banks and telephone companies are shunning these areas and children’s education is one of the major problems for the victims.
Through conclaves like Guarvi Gujarat, and the annual meetings of NRIs; Industrialists, investment is being solicited and more than the forthcoming investment, projections are being made of the flow of dollars, creating the image that it is during Modi regime that Guajarat has begun to progress. The fact is that there are some investments; there is some industrialization; but it is far from what is being projected. In previous Vibrant Summits claims of big capital investments have been made. For example in 2005 claim for Rs.106161 crores had been made. Out of that investment of Rs.74019 crores (63%) was made as stated by Chief Minister but in reality as per the information availed under R.T.I. only Rs.24998 crores (23.52%) projects were under implementation.
As per Teesta Setalvad, “…Likewise, in 2007, 363 MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) were made in which Modi Government claimed to have mobilized capital investments of Rs.461835 crores. Factually this amount was Rs.451835 crores and not Rs.461835 crores so an excess investment of Rs.10000 crores was claimed. Out of this State Government claimed to have made an investment of Rs.264575 crores but as per the figures by Industry Commissioner of Gujarat projects worth Rs.122400.66 crores (27.08%) were under implementation. Actually out of the investments in 2003, 2005 and 2007 only 20.28% of projects were under implementation in Gujarat.”
While Gujarat was already amongst the most industrialized states, it has been able to invite good deal of investment. Still it remains next to Maharashtra which leads the pack. While one does not hear much about the Maharashtra progress, through different types of media hypes the image of Gujarat phenomenon has been built up. The industrialization in Gujarat has a pattern. Two decades back, the growth rate of Gujarat was something between 12 and 13 per cent. The national average was six to seven per cent then. Today, Gujarat has the growth rate of 11 per cent while National growth rate is 10 per cent. This fact should make the matters clear to us.
As such Gujarat state has opened its coffers to subsidize the industrialists. Land, water and soft loans are the order of the day; they have been given to the industrialists at extremely cheap rates. It was one of the reasons because of which Tata shifted his Nano project to Gujarat. The subsidy, which this small car gets, is huge. Industrialists are having a free run and the social concerns like job creation are very poor in the Gujarat pattern. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are far ahead of Gujarat in the Job creation ratio on the investment. The investment figures which are flashed are not all actualized. One of the major victims of the reckless industrialization is the ecology, which has been ignored totally far as Gujarat is concerned.
The growth differentials in Gujarat are very appalling. On one hand, there is the growth, on other there is a serious decline in the social indicators of like sex ratio. According to ‘India State Hunger Index 2008’, Gujarat is shockingly ranked worse than Orissa. Gujarat is ranked 13th in the 17 big states which were calculated in this list. Gujarat is only above Jharkhand, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, which are globally equal to the hunger situation in Ethiopia. Poverty levels are rising; employment and agriculture are not in good shape. The agricultural production has been declining, e.g. from 65.71 lakh tones in 2003-2004 to 51.53 in 2004-2005. A survey conducted by NSS in 2005 reveals that approximately 40% farmers of state said that given the option they would like to shift away from agriculture. Recent studies show that during the last decade agriculture and labor both have suffered extensively.
Modi, in a reply given in state assembly stated that in one year up to Jan 2007, 148 farmers had committed suicide and the condition is worsening on that score. While on one side the state exports electricity, its villages are having a power deficit. Indian Express 8th April 2007 reported that state is reeling under the shortfall of 900 mega Watt of power, the victims of this are mainly in the villages. One of the indices of poverty, prevalence of anemia, is very revealing on this count. The percentage of women suffering from anemia has risen from 46.3% in 1999 to 55.5% in 2004 (Third round of National Family Health survey report 2006) among women. Amongst children it rose from 74.5% to 80.1%. Some of the reports point out the conditions of dalits and women has deteriorated during last decade. For women, one of the indices is the declining sex ratio in Gujarat during last decade. The plight of Adivasis is no better.
Gujarat is facing problems at the level of living conditions more of poor, women and minorities. The media hype is meant to change the image of Narendra Modi from the one who led the carnage to a development man. But deeper look at the economic and social situation tell us another story.
(ii)
Vibrant Gujarat summit-2011 – Ridiculous show-off of Power
Teesta Setalvad
O
ne more summit of Vibrant Gujarat is to be organized in January 2011. Prior to this such summits have been organized in 2003, 2005 and 2007. These summits have been organized to attract industrialists and industries to state. In which Chief Minister of Gujarat offers land at cheaper rates to industrialists interested in capital investment, free water or water at cheaper rate to use in industry, if such industries lead to pollution then freedom to them from laws related to pollution, exemption from tax for five years and in this duration of five years freedom from laborers’ act will also be given and thus would give a feel of his power. He would show that he can give land at cheaper rates to industries he wishes to and in return would expect industrialists to appreciate him and say that he is best Chief Minister of country.
In previous Vibrant Summits claims of big capital investments have been made. For example in 2005 claim for Rs.106161 crores had been made. Out of that investment of Rs.74019 crores (63%) was made as said by Chief Minister but in reality as per the information availed under R.T.I. only Rs.24998 crores (23.52%) projects were under implementation.
Likewise, in 2007, 363 MoU were made in which Modi Government claimed to have mobilized capital investments of Rs.461835 crores. Factually this amount was Rs.451835 crores and not Rs.461835 crores so an excess investment of Rs.10000 crores was claimed. Out of this State Government claimed to have made an investment of Rs.264575 crores but as per the figures by Industry Commissioner of Gujarat projects worth Rs.122400.66 crores (27.08%) were under implementation. Actually out of the investments in 2003, 2005 and 2007 only 20.28% of projects were under implementation in Gujarat.
Figures of capital investment in each state and expected employment opportunities out of it as per the memorandum submitted by industrialists to Ministry of commerce and industries in central government under industrial policy has been put up on its website by Ministry. These figures are of the year 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and up to September 2010. The analysis of these figures has revealed that compared to investment coming to Gujarat less employment opportunities will be created. That is wealthy capital investment industries will come to Gujarat due to which direct benefit of availing employment will be less which is clear from the below mentioned table.
Year
State
Project
Investment
Employment opportunities (Rs. in crores)
2006
Gujarat
568
66,109
1,27,051
Maharashtra
861
38,122
1,27,015
Tamilnadu
724
19,522
9,60,867
2007
Gujarat
336
92,480
89,125
Maharashtra
582
84,957
2,65,080
Tamilnadu
393
26,387
1,12,218
2008
Gujarat
361
1,25,357
2,12,428
Maharashtra
705
92,257
1,90,398
Tamilnadu
289
24,145
1,35,019
2009
Gujarat
376
1,42,239
1,43,709
Maharashtra
593
68,069
1,32,936
Tamilnadu
233
66,864
69,887
2010 (Up to September 2010
Gujarat
368
1,09,688
75,318
Maharashtra
586
1,37,141
1,47,966
Tamilnadu
172
26,362
31,622
Total of all years mentioned above
Gujarat
5,35,873
6,47,631
Maharashtra
4,20,546
8,63,395
Tamilnadu
1,63,280
13,09,613
Above mentioned table reveals that in Gujarat in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and up to September 2010 memorandum of Rs.5, 35,873 crores by industrialists was filed with Ministry and out of that expected employment opportunities creation was 6, 47,631. Whereas in Maharashtra memorandums of 4,20,546 crores were filed (less than Gujarat state) and expected employment opportunities were 8,63,395. Which means one lakh rupees less capital investment than Gujarat yet 2, 18,000 more expected employment opportunities than Gujarat. Whereas in Tamil Nadu during this time period against capital investment of Rs.1, 63,280 crores, 13,09,613 expected employment opportunities will be created against this,
At the end of the year 2009-10 in Gujarat there were 8, 32,000 educated unemployed people. Number of educated unemployed people was 9, 64,000 in 2004, 9, 00,000 in 2005, 8,30,000 in 2006, 7,78,000 in 2007, 8,25,000 in 2008 and in 2009 also it was 8,25,000. Now if in the year 2003, 2005, 2007 there has been capital investment as per Chief Minister’s say then why there has not been any significant decrease in the number of these unemployed people.
On the other hand, out of the memorandums filed before Ministry of Commerce and Industry in the year 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and up to September 2010, 8,97,782 crores have been filed in Chhattisgadh i.e. 3,61,909 crores more than Gujarat and 8,35,048 crores have been filed in Orissa i.e. 2,99,175 crores more memorandums than Gujarat had been filed during the same time period.
If in Chhattisgadh and Orissa without any Vibrant Summit, memorandums (I.E.M) worth 3,61,909 crores more than Gujarat in Chhatisgadh and 2,99,175 crores in Orissa are possible then in Gujarat why inspite of summits, it is lagging behind Orissa and Chhattisgadh in capital investment memorandums? Also without vibrant if Maharashtra and Tamilnadu can have more expected employment opportunities with less capital investment then in Gujarat why less expected employment opportunities compared to investment? Compared to other states inspite of Vibrant Summits why there is less capital investment in Gujarat? Vibrant Summits are nothing more than a means through which industrialists praise Chief Minister and avail financial benefits, and to show off that Chief Minister is more capable than other Chief Ministers of country.
2. Anna Hazare’s Comments about Development of Rural Gujarat:
i) Response by Mallika Sarabhai
Dear Annaji
We are deeply shocked by your endorsement of Narendra Modi's rural development. There has been little or no rural development in this state. In fact gauchar lands and irrigated farmlands have been stealthily taken by the government and sold off at ridiculous prices to a small club of industrialists. There has been no Lokayukta in Gujarat for nearly seven years so hundreds of complaints against corruption are lying unheard. From the Sujalam Sufalam scam of 1700 crores to the NREGS boribund scam of 109 crores, the fisheries scam of 600 crores, every department is involved in thousands of crores of scams. The poor and rural people are being sold to Modi's friends the industrialists. The state is in terrible debt because of his largess to industry while 21 lakh farmers wait for compensation.
Your endorsement is apalling and we will be forced to distance ourselves from
the Lokpal movement unless it is irrevocably retracted.
Sincerely
Mallika Sarabhai
11.4.2011
ii) Response by Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah
Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah
Date: 12th April 2011
Dear Annaji,
We received your reply in the form of your ‘press release’ to media in which you have once again retreated that “I praised only the developmental work done by Shri Narendra Modi and Shri Nitish Kumar in rural areas.” That is what we are questioning - the “rural development model” of Mr. Narendra Modi based on the ground realities in Gujarat.
Our letter dated April 11 highlighted the ground reality of downtrodden masses of Gujarat from farmers to fishing communities, tribals and salt pan workers. Please read it carefully. Most of us in Gujarat working for the working class, women, farmers, dalits, tribals, landless laborers and the downtrodden who wrote to you on April 11, have focused on the development that Modi claims has happened, but is a contrast in reality.
Your endorsement of Modi's development led to Modi writing an open letter to you minding you of a “vilification campaign”. We hope you realise the implications of endorsement now.
For a chief minister who turned his backs on scores of farmers who demand their right to farming (the Mahuva agitation), on tribals who seek forest land, of turning blind eye to pollution in towns and villages (Ankleshwar, Vapi, Nandesari, Vatva, Saurashtra and Kutch). Fishing communities being deprived of their livelihood in Kutch, the instances are numerous - will you call it development Annaji.
Your vague clarification is only related to communal harmony and politics - which is not we in Gujarat raised to you in our letter on Monday, while pointing out your praise of Modi's development model is misplaced.
You could either visit the state to have a first hand look or could reach out to those affected and working in the state. We hope that you will relay on the facts and not ‘false propaganda of the Government’.
Even your mention about communalism is very vague and you had not said anything about the role of Mr. Modi’s Government in 2002 and the continuation of the worsening of the plight of most affected people particularly poor Muslim women and men.
We need to look at the situation holistically and not in isolation as the rise of fascist communal forces in Gujarat who use "development claims" to mask all their shortcomings. The rise of fascist communalist forces in Gujarat is closely liked with the neo-liberal globalised development model.
We hope for a suitable and prompt clarification on your comments now.
Rohit Prajapati & Trupti Shah
(Social Activists of Gujarat)
37, Patrakar Colony, Tandalja Road, Post-Akota, Vadodara - 390 020
Phone No: + 91 - 265 – 2320399,
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
iii) The Reply – Email received in the form of Press Release by Us.
Press statement by Anna Hazare
I am issuing this statement to clarify one of my statements which has been misinterpreted.
On a question asked in my press conference today, I praised only the developmental work done by Shri Narendra Modi and Shri Nitish Kumar in rural areas. Alongside I clarified that I am equally opposed to any form of communal disharmony. I am completely opposed to any kind of communalism or discrimination on religious or caste lines. I strongly condemn and oppose any kind of communal violence. People from all faiths and religions are founders, supporters and participants in this movement. This includes, Arch Bishop of Delhi, Mufti Shamoom Kashmi and others. I strongly believe in Gandhian values and principles of communal harmony.
I also wish to clarify that we are not attached to any political party. The movement is completely non-partisan and will remain so.
I sincerely urge the press to understand my intentions, which is to save this country from corruption by taking people of all faiths and religions along.
K B Hazare
iv) Teesta Setalvad
W
e, academics, activists, artists and intellectuals strongly condemn the recently reported statement made by Anna Hazareji in which he has brazenly endorsed Narendra Modi, a politician who not only symbolizes the politics of division but unconstitutional governance. For the veteran anti-corruption social activist, Hazare to endorse a politician against whom a Supreme Court led investigation into conspiracy to commit mass murder and rape, subversion of evidence and pressure and intimidation of key witnesses is still underway reveals a narrow and mercenary understanding of the meaning of corruption. Worse, given the support base of the recent high profile and highly televised event agitation, that included open support from Ram Madhav and the RSS as also Baba Ramdev, Hazare’s move could be construed as a bid to actually influence this SC-driven criminal investigation.
Modi stands accused, and has not been yet cleared of serious charges of actively masterminding mass murder, loot and rape of 2,500 of Gujarat’s innocen
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