MUMBAI, MARCH 13: On the eve of the third anniversary of the Sena-BJP alliance in power in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi rues he was not successful in cleansing the administration of corruption.In an interview to The Indian Express, Joshi said that despite his commitment he was unable to provide a clean governance to the people of Maharashtra. Nevertheless, he was happy for completing three years in the office at a juncture when short lived governments are almost the order of the day.
Incidentally, after Vasantrao Naik, who was at the helm of affairs of the state for well over 12 years, from December 5, 1963 to February 20, 1975, Joshi will be the first Chief Minister in the political history of Maharashtra to complete three years in the office on Saturday.
``We will have to take drastic steps to remove corruption at all levels since the Sena-BJP alliance wrested power from the Congress on the plank of corruption. Moreover, the coalition government had launched a drive to undo whatthe erstwhile Congress regime had done with its corrupt practices. Now it is the my government's duty to cleanse the system,'' Joshi asserted.
The Chief Minister, however, declined to elaborate on his action plan, saying, it would be improper to disclose the steps his government would take in remaining two years before facing the electorate again.
But he disclosed that he had given a free hand to the chief of the Anti-corruption Bureau to prosecute a ``trapped person'' without waiting for the Chief Minister's approval.
While Joshi confessed his inability to provide corruption-free administration and professional management, he considered the debacle in the mid-term polls the biggest blot on the alliance. ``We could secure just 10 out of the 48 seats against 33 we had won in the last elections. In the days to come, we will have to strengthen the administration and provide result oriented programmes to the electorate. I am sure, we will perform batter in the next elections to the assembly,'' Joshisaid.
Joshi attributes the Congress' electoral success in the mid-term polls to the rift the party could create among various communities. ``Unfortunately the Congress played a caste card to woo voters and now the Shiv Sena will also have to consolidate Hindu vote bank,'' Joshi said.
The chief minister's remark acquires significance in view of the prevailing feeling among Shiv Sainiks about the need to restore militant Hindu posture of the party. Many Shiv Sena leaders have been saying after the poll debacle that the strategy to woo Muslims backfired on the party.
On the status of the developmental projects undertaken by his government, Joshi said the progress was far from satisfactory. ``Even if we expedite the decision-making process, it will take at least a year and a half before the work can actually be started,'' Joshi said.
But he maintained that the irrigation projects undertaken by the Krishna Valley Development Corporation were in full swing. While the erstwhile Congress government spent Rs3000 crore in 45 years, the alliance government was committed to provide Rs 11,000 crore. ``Under 45 years of Congress rule, 10.62 lakh hectares of land was brought under cultivation, while we will bring the same measure under cultivation in five years,''Joshi said. The irrigation corporations set up for executing projects in Vidarbha, North Maharashtra and Konkan were doing well, the chief minister said. ``The fact that all the bonds issued for these scheme have been over subscribed, speaks a volume about the confidence people have in the alliance government,'' he added.
The Chief Minister said three major schemes - home for the aged, Rs 7100 crore drinking water scheme covering all villages and free housing to 40 lakh slum dwellers in the metropolis were in different stages. The scheme for providing shelter to aged persons had been completed in 27 out of the 31 districts. On the drinking water front the government would not require tankers for providing drinking water to villages.
Though the freehousing scheme suffered a set back due to the recession in the real estate market, the government would provide free houses to at least 10 lakh slum dwellers by the year 2,000, the chief minister assured.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
