The UPA Government's accent on aam aadmi , agricultural development and rural regeneration to ensure inclusive economic growth is passé .The conflict between a rising urban India and an impoverishing Bharat was seldom thrown in sharp contrast as during the past couple of years. The pitched battle over land by big project owners and those whose livelihood security is imperilled has widened the divide further, necessitating a persuasive case for a just compromise. It is in this backdrop that in the recent Union Cabinet reshuffle, a surprise choice to the Rural Development Ministry was the tech-savvy Mr Jairam Ramesh, who was part of the core team in the run-up to the 2004 and 2009 elections.

With more than a month in his new stint, Mr Ramesh told Business Line that moving here is “a pleasant change for me because in my previous job in the Ministry of Environment & Forests I used to get brickbats all the time. But I have got good support so far and I have got perhaps qualified bouquets.

I have not got too many brickbats” while referring to the Land Acquisition and Relief and Rehabilitation Bill he is piloting. Always known for clarity of thought and tenacity in action, Mr Ramesh admits that rural development is the single largest item of civilian public expenditure of about Rs 1 lakh crore , next only to defence. So in a characteristic quip, Mr Ramesh says that he believes in ACTIONS—Accountability, Convergence, Transparency, Innovations, Outcomes, Next Generation and Sustainability. Each one is very important and I will pursue each one of these parts. The nation has every right to demand accountability and the outcome we are getting from this expenditure. Hence, business-as-usual approach will not do”. Mr Ramesh is also unsparing on the pathetic sanitation system when he said “we are a nation characterised by individual hygiene and collective filth. India is a nation of private cleanliness and public squalor. This is a paradox of India and open defecation is a blot on society. What is the point of growing at 9 per cent a year and being the world's third largest economy if millions of rural women defecate openly?” Hence he said the focus now would be on sanitation.

Following are the excerpts from the interview Mr Ramesh gave from his Krishi Bhawan office:

Why was your focus mainly on land issue and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MNREGA)?

In less than three weeks after assuming office, I had put into the public domain a new draft Land Acquisition and Relief & Rehabilitation Bill 2011. That Bill marked a paradigm shift in our approach to land acquisition. It is an integrated legislation of land acquisition and relief and rehabilitation. Second, it deals not only with land owners but livelihood losers as well.

Thirdly, it puts into place a new institutional architecture for enforcing the legislation. Fourthly, it proposes certain retrospective provisions.

We are not amending the 1894 Act. We are replacing the 117-year-old legislation. I firmly believe in pre-legislative consultative process.

So even before I introduced the Bill in Parliament, I made it public. I discussed with our ally the West Bengal Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, who had serious reservations on the previous bills. By and large, Ms Banerjee appears to be on board. She has certain concerns which we have taken care of. I met the JD (U) leader, Mr Sharad Yadav, besides sending copies of the Bill to all State Chief Ministers and all political parties. I will take this process forward. Mr Rahul Gandhi's padayatra in Uttar Pradesh has lent urgency to this Bill.

Why does the rural product marketing remain by far the weakest link and how do you propose to overcome it to ensure reasonable returns on their produce?

I had a discussion with CAPART as to how we help in marketing the rural produce. One of the flagship programmes of my Ministry is the National Rural Livelihood Missions. The main purpose is to promote women's self-help groups (SHG) such as how do we help in the value-addition of produces such as minor forest produce. How do we create marketing platforms for rural entrepreneurs are all important challenges that are very much on my agenda?

While there is a big battle over land for a variety of purpose, how is your Ministry-run integrated wasteland development programme going?

In my view, there is no such thing as waste land in this country. It is a misnomer. We have wasted land because what we call waste land is being used for some purpose or the other — either it is under encroachment or it is being used as a community property resource.

That is why wasteland development programme has not been successful. It is one thing to identify wasteland from the satellite but another thing on the ground to go and see where the wasteland is. That is why I believe that we must talk about wasted land.

The MoRD is nothing but land and water productivity and unless we improve the productivity of land and water, we are not going to get rural development in any meaningful manner. Rural development is not about schemes/programmes but it is an approach that must be based on the principle of dignity to our poor. Under Indira Awas Yojana, you provide Rs 70,000 and one room and expect seven people to stay in one room for the next thirty years. Your programme must empower them and in the case of MNREGA, agricultural wages have gone up, strengthening the bargaining power. Intrinsic in the Ministry is the idea that before we do anything, we must treat the poor with dignity and protect their dignity. We must empower them and enable them to emerge as providers of goods and services. We need a nano revolution in rural housing and we need technology revolution in low-cost housing.

> geeyes@thehindu.co.in

Published on August 14, 2011