It is with a tragic air that Mani Shankar Aiyar, former union minister and unashamed acolyte of the late Rajiv Gandhi, sketches his kismet today: “It took me four years to convince the prime minister’s office, planning commission and finance commission that equitable distribution cannot come without inclusive growth and inclusive governance, and just when they finally began to see it, I stupidly went and lost the election. I am heartbroken.”
But don’t be fooled by the mock lament on providence and heartache — the 68-year-old former minister of panchayati raj and development of the north eastern region is a hardy survivor despite losing the 2009 Lok Sabha poll from his constituency Mayiladuthurai, in Tamil Nadu, which he has contested six times, losing thrice. Aiyar is gung-ho about his post in the Congress party, as convenor of the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sanghatan. “It is entirely a gift from Sonia Gandhi,” he says miming gratitude. Aiyar was appointed as early as last year, to hotly pursue the subject passionately close to his heart — panchayati raj or local self-administration.
Sitting in his office in his official residence amongst piles of packages (he has to vacate the place soon) Aiyar charts out what’s ahead of him, “There has been a continuity of my last job in several ways: As convenor of the sanghatan, it is my responsibility to mobilise recruits for panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) all over the country and we are looking at lakhs of people, and they will also be Congress and Congress-minded people. Two, my replacement C P Joshi has long been my lieutenant in the panchayati raj movement when I was chairman of the Congress’ political training department, and a firm believer in it. In my view, if the Congress has to build on the goodwill the people have reposed in it today, the only way the party can execute its policies for the people is through panchayati raj institutions (PRIs).”
Panchayati raj has been a deep and intense commitment from Rajiv Gandhi’s time, says Aiyar, it was the late PM who taught him that pro-poor schemes will never be able to reach its beneficiaries in the grassroots without a ‘participatory delivery mechanism’ where local self-government institutions are involved in the disbursement of funds. Explains Aiyar, “I have nothing against economic reforms but the benefits of these reforms have gone oh so disproportionately to those who are the most passionate advocates of reforms. Economic reforms accelerate growth but also mean spectacular inequalities. Do you know it is not corruption but administrative costs and bureaucratic delivery systems that swallows up the emblematic 85 paise of every rupee meant for the poor?”
He elaborates further: Despite a stunning growth rate, 70 per cent of India’s 1.1 billion people, that is over 750 million people live with less than Rs 20 a day. There are over 300 centrally-aided government schemes for the poor but they are mutually insulated from each other. Expenditure costs for poverty schemes have gone up from Rs 7,600 crore in 1994-95 to Rs 1,20,000 crore, in 2008-09, yet despite the massive increase in outlay, India has gone up just two notches on the UN Human Development Index in the same period, from position 136 to 134. “There’s no connection at all between increased outlay and outcome,” says a weary Aiyar, “the benefits will go to the people only through inclusive growth and inclusive governance, where local area planning should be sufficiently strengthened so that the people can decide what they want to do with their funds. Bureaucrats should be servants of the people, not self-serving. All this can only be brought through panchayati raj.”
The last four years have witnessed an acrimonious battle between the pro-reforms troika at the Centre — Manmohan Singh, Chidambaram and Ahluwalia — and Aiyar, unabashed Nehruvian and self-confessed champion of local self-rule. Yet in the face of a slow and tardy movement in empowering PRIs in the governance structure to ensure grassroot development through grassroot democracy, Aiyar is ecstatic the PM and Ahluwalia now recognise its importance. “The PM has finally uttered ‘inclusive growth’ in his speech early this year. Montek is also with me on PRIs. The problem with Montek is that since he was six months old, he has been told he is always the best, he has to stop talking and start listening,” says Aiyar jokingly.
So, does Aiyar have grand plans to engulf the panchayati ministry and pretend it never went away from him? He is launching a recruitment programme in western UP, in the first week of July. He swiftly corrects himself. “I did call Joshi and tell him I am at his disposal, but he has not responded, perhaps he does not want to be under my shadow,” he says bluntly, but adds, “the idea is to create a grand synergy between the ministry, sanghatan and Rahul Gandhi’s aam aadmi ka sipahi (the band of committed party workers who go door to door to ensure implementation of government schemes and to become a bridge between party and the youth). I have not yet talked to Rahul Gandhi but if we manage to harness all our forces together, we can create the largest social force at the grassroots level, of a committed cadre that extends to every district in the country. I can assure you I can enable Rahul to become prime minister in 2014, with an even bigger mandate than his father got when he became PM the first time.”
Mani Shankar Aiyar — always the Family loyalist.
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