| |
STATES: KERALA
A Leader Reformed
The chief minister is getting standing ovations
— and Central funds — in his new avatar as the harbinger of
change in the state
By M.G. Radhakrishnan
|
|
|
CHANGE AGENT: Antony
|
It is not often
that A.K. Antony, whose oratorial skills are at best average, receives
a standing ovation. But last week, over 700-odd Non-Resident Keralites
(NRK) who had converged on Kochi for the "Global Malayali Meet 2001"
gave him one as they heard the normally reticent Kerala chief minister
indulge in some uncharacteristic plainspeak. "Kerala is a pauper
state and its money-order economy is sustained by your remittances. We
can no longer remain prisoners of outdated ideology. We intend to go ahead
full-steam with liberalisation. I confess that my views about these things
too have undergone a major transformation. Experience has taught me to
change."
Then for good measure, he turned to the CPI(M)
Politburo member and leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan and said,
"Unless we change our attitudes towards investment Kerala will be
consigned to the dustbins of history." If the NRKs gave him a long
ovation, it was because these were unusual words from a politician in
a state where the rival political camps led by the Congress and the CPI(M)
continued to swear by socialism long after it fell into disrepute elsewhere.
Antony, the once staunch Nehruvian socialist,
probably realised he did not have any choice except to change. He presides
over a state whose external debt stands at Rs 25,000 crore and where the
government does not have money even for its employees' salaries. Two months
ago, public-sector petroleum companies refused to supply fuel to the state
government undertakings while Indian Airlines refused to honour travel
vouchers issued by the United Democratic Front (UDF) Government to officials.
The state's monthly revenue is Rs 700 crore, while expenditure stands
at Rs 970 crore. With no industry worth the name, Kerala depends largely
on remittances from over three million Keralites working abroad, mainly
in the Gulf. Today, even that is dwindling due to new immigration laws
in the Gulf countries. No wonder the chief minister is in a hurry. In
his first 100 days in office, he initiated several liberalisation measures
(see box) in the process drawing advice from some unexpected quarters
like his party colleague and pro-reform chief minister of Karnataka, S.M.
Krishna.
Antony's agenda for change started in Delhi
with which successive governments in Thiruvananthapuram have had frosty
relations. The previous Left Democratic Front government led by the CPI(M)'s
E.K. Nayanar had virtually refused to do business with the NDA Government
on the ground that it was led by the BJP, a party that is anathema to
the Marxists. Antony showed he was willing to turn a new leaf. Last month,
he stayed put in Delhi for close to a week, met as many as 13 Union ministers
and rounded off his visit with a call on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The chief minister breached tradition by taking along with him for these
meetings former BJP vice-president O. Rajagopal, who is now the Union
minister of state for railways. "When we speak, we speak for Kerala
and I find nothing wrong in enlisting his help," says Antony. Union
Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan was impressed enough to
sanction all five it proposals that Antony had mooted. He later said:
"This is the first time a minister from Kerala came to me for any
discussion. Just for this reason, I am happy to sanction all the projects."
Antony sees the double-quick response as proof that it pays to have friendly
relations with the Centre despite the ruling coalitions in Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram
pursuing divergent political agendas. Says his Principal Secretary Gopala
Krishna Pillai: "His personal image as a man of integrity helps a
lot while dealing with the people at the Centre."
|
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives
