Making money is the one-point agenda of the Shiv Sena: Prithviraj Chavan

When he was shifted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi from New Delhi to Mumbai almost three years ago, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, 67, had little clue about running a large state like Maharashtra.

But he has flummoxed detractors within his own party and its coalition partner, the NCP, besides the opposition by providing shrewd leadership to the coalition government. In an exclusive interview to dna’s S Balakrishnan on Thursday night, he explains why Mumbai is in such a mess. Excerpts:

The government seems to be doing precious little to stop the collapse of Mumbai. The roads and pavements are in pathetic state. There is garbage everywhere. The transport network is unable to take anymore burden. The commuter crush is the worst in the world. The mess in the metropolis is unbelievable. Mumbai was never like this. Also, the crime rate is worrying. Why are you not intervening to save the state’s capital?
I agree the situation is bad. Left to myself I would like to dissolve the BMC, but I cannot do that. A regional party like the Shiv Sena has been dominating the BMC for the past 15 years. It totally lacks vision and has only a one-point agenda of making money. In octroi alone there is a revenue loss of Rs2,000 crore for the BMC.

Though the same potholes keep reappearing, the same contractors are retained. Everyone knows what is happening in the standing committee. That is why I have appointed an IAS officer like Sitaram Kunte to handle the situation.
Ideally, the same party should be in the BMC and the state so that there is better coordination.

As for law and order, I wish to state that not a single file is pending with me. If the home minister [RR Patil] is not taking decisions, it is not my fault. I am not complaining against anyone. There is problem between the director-general of police and the home department over powers to transfer police officers.

You have the rare honour of being praised by an opposition leader, Uddhav Thackeray. Does this point out to a possible tie-up in the future? Also, would you say that post-Bal Thackeray the Shiv Sena has lost steam?
Uddhav is a nice man and I have been fair to him. As long as the Shiv Sena does not indulge in tod-fod (politics of violence) and does not indulge in communalism I have no problem. But we will step in if there is violence. As for the Shiv Sena’s future, it is for it to grapple with the situation post-Balasaheb.

Your government has done nothing to check Raj Thackeray, MNS chief, despite his violent campaign against migrants. In fact, the Mumbai police commissioner’s letter to the home department for sanction to prosecute him is pending for the past two years. Why has nothing been done about that?
I do not know about this permission to prosecute him. But I do not think there is any need for the government’s permission. Both the Shiv Sena and the MNS should realise that the youth are not interested in violent politics anymore. In fact, the rural youth want a share of the India Story. They want a share of the developmental pie. The emphasis is on economic and social growth. These parties should realise this change in ground reality.

There is this general perception that your government is not performing. NCP chief Sharad Pawar himself has said publicly that several files are pending with you. Are you being extra-cautious about clearing files considering the fact that your predecessor Ashok Chavan landed himself in big trouble over Adarsh scam?
It is a totally wrong perception that we are not performing. In fact, over the past three years we have brought in political stability, improved the financial and power situation of the state. We continue to attract huge foreign direct investments.

Files, which are within the legal framework, are being cleared very fast. This is the era of RTI. People are even asking under RTI about the number of Bisleri bottles consumed. We have to ensure that the decisions are well within rules.
Only those which involve tweaking of rules, take time. I am not constrained by what happened in the past with Ashok Chavan. Of course, in a coalition, decision-making takes time. But this does not mean that nothing is moving in Mantralaya. In fact, our administration is doing a good job.

It is said that Pawar is upset with you because you did not clear certain files related to DB Realty. Please comment. 
I would not like to comment on individual cases. But I am surprised at Pawar’s remarks and the language used by him which is not characteristic of him. I have a healthy relationship with him. He has helped my government in a big way on the drought issue.

You are widely known as Mr Clean. Yet, the level of corruption in Maharashtra is showing no signs of reducing. In fact, some of the departments directly under you like the charity commissioner’s office are notorious for rampant corruption. Other departments like RTO, revenue etc are no better.

I admit that there is corruption. I am doing my best to improve the situation. I have posted the best possible officers like Sanjay Deshmukh as collector, Mumbai suburban, UPS Madan as in charge of MMRDA, and Sanjay Bhatia in Cidco. We are migrating towards e-governance in a big way, which will improve transparency and also speed up delivery of services to the people.

As for RTO, we have streamlined transfers of inspectors and also made them accountable. We have asked them to generate more revenue for the government. Their performance is being closely monitored.

How do you rate Narendra Modi’s performance in Gujarat. Is the Gujarat model of development for real?
Modi has taken some good decisions. The development of ports is one such example. He has the advantage of being the sole in-charge of the state. But there is nothing called the Gujarat model of development.

In fact, Gujarat’s performance is not all that his PR machinery is touting.
Maharashtra has received 36% of all foreign direct investment received by the country. Gujarat’s share is about 5%. We are streets ahead of Gujarat on several counts. But I have no grudge against the development of the neighbouring state. 

In fact, much of the development of Gujarat is because the Gujaratis are traditionally a hardworking business-oriented class. They have contributed to the development of Gujarat even before Modi entered the picture, but he is taking the credit for it. Gujaratis have made enormous contribution to Mumbai, London, New York et al.

Do you think the next Lok Sabha elections will be a battle between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi?
It will be a battle between the Congress and the BJP. But let me tell you that the BJP has no presence in many states in the country unlike the Congress. The Nehru-Gandhi family’s connect with the masses is huge.

Apart from that a slew of decisions taken by the UPA government like the Food Security Bill, Land Acquisition Bill, Right to Education will benefit millions of poor for whom the BJP does not care.

The benefits of the Food Security Bill will start flowing in to the people in Maharashtra by December. Big farmers are concerned about the impact of food security law. They are afraid that they may not get adequate labour to do farm work. But these issues can be addressed. These historic laws will change the face of India. The talk of policy paralysis is meaningless.

The atomic reactor project at Jaitapur, the Navi Mumbai airport and the Sewri-Nhava trans-harbour link have been  non-starters. What is happening to these big-ticket projects?
Jaitapur is not a state government project, but a project of the Nuclear Power Corporation, central and French governments. Hundred per cent of the land for the project has been acquired. In fact, most of the land was barren. Yet the owners were paid as much as Rs22 lakh per hectare. There is no rehab issue. I am pushing for it because the state will get 10,000MW of clean electricity.

The Navi Mumbai airport project too has been cleared by the environment ministry and fresh tenders will be called for the trans-harbour link. Apart from that the Mumbai coastal road project will take off expeditiously. The Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road and other mega projects are being augmented.

The communal situation, in the backdrop of Muzaffarnagar, is worrying.

I agree. It is worrisome. We are keeping a close watch of the situation in our state. We will not allow fundamentalist elements to exploit the situation. The BJP thinks it will benefit by communal polarisation. But we will not let that happen here. The BJP-Shiv Sena won in the background of Babri masjid demolition and the riots in Mumbai. But people will not let them be taken for a ride by these elements again.

What would you list as the six big-ticket achievements of your three-year tenure?
A: When I assumed office, the situation in Maharashtra was very unsettled and volatile. The system had almost collapsed. The bureaucracy’s confidence was at its lowest. IAS officers were under the scanner. Some even went to jail. The political system too was in a mess. I did take some time to settle down in office.

But, once I did that my first task was to put the system back on track. I handpicked meritorious officers and put them in key positions. For example, I brought in Sitaram Kunte as the Mumbai municipal commissioner.

The second challenge was to combat drought, which was the worst the state had ever witnessed. If it was prevented from becoming a major crisis, it was largely because of our deft management of the situation. There was drought, but no scarcity. The Centre helped us tide over the crisis.

Thirdly, I started giving a push to irrigation projects which were languishing for years and incurring frightful cost overruns. For instance, the original estimated cost of the Ghosikhurd dam project in Vidarbha was Rs384 crore. But it had shot up to Rs13,600 crore and was still incomplete. It was a vital project for farmers of Vidarbha.

Work on the dam is now complete; only the canals need to be completed. We have now decided to build small dams, and encourage watershed management in every village. The aim is to make rain-fed agriculture, which constitutes 82% of all farming in the state, sustainable.

Fourthly, we got environmental clearance for Navi Mumbai airport. Fifthly, several ongoing projects in Mumbai like the metro rail and mono rail have been given a big push and will become operational by this year-end.

Lastly, I have introduced rules to regulate the real estate industry which will result in a revenue gain of several thousand rupees and also bring in order to this vital industry.