Industries shut down in Gandhi land

More than 200 factories have closed in Amethi

JAGDISHPUR: More than 200 factories in Rahul Gandhi’s constituency Amethi have closed down over the years, trade unions say, a testimony to its neglect by successive administrations in Uttar Pradesh for the last two decades.
 
The issue of Amethi’s development, or the lack of it, came to the fore following the suspension of four officials by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati for praising Rahul Gandhi’s “developmental work”.

The book, Sultanpur: Kal aur Aaj, released last week, angered the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government. All four officials had contributed to the book. They included Faizabad divisional commissioner L. Venkateshwarlu and Sultanpur district magistrate Sanjay Kumar, both IAS officers.

The ground reality in Amethi is not as bright as the book would have us believe.

It wasn’t always like this.

A long time ago, Rahul’s late uncle Sanjay Gandhi developed Jagdishpur, a small town in the constituency, as an industrial hub. Once Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul’s father, got elected from Amethi, he nurtured Jagdishpur further. A trade union leader said more than 280 industrial units came up in the area. Now only around 35 remain in business.

Runicha Textiles is symptomatic of what has gone wrong in Jagdishpur. The factory, originally named Amethi Textiles, has changed hands thrice since it was established in 1990, with some help from Rajiv Gandhi. A New Delhi-based industrialist bought the factory, which boasts of machines imported from Switzerland, in 1995. However, it closed down in December 1996 due to, among other things, shortage of raw materials.

Its employees were paid salaries till July 1997 but were then left to fend for themselves. In 2000, it was started again under the new name with the Industrial Development Bank of India’s help — only to stop work in February 2004.

“We have a lot of hope from Rahul Gandhi. I met (Congress president) Soniaji once and told her about our problems,” Mangal Dev Pandey, general secretary of the textile unit’s trade union said.

Jagdishpur legislator Ram Sewak, who has won eight times from here on a Congress ticket, argued: “Only the Gandhi family can help restart these factories.”

Firms like Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and Indo-Gulf Fertilizers had opened units here. Malvika Steel had set up the biggest factory in the area that closed four years ago.

Rahul Gandhi laid the foundation stone for an ordnance factory in the region in December 2007. While locals are happy, they feel this is not a lasting solution. “Opening new factories will not solve our problems. The old ones should be restarted first,” reasons Ram Khilawan, a pan shop owner.