The government is hopeful about mid-cap companies investing in the state, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi tells Satyavrat Mishra
In the last five years, people have started believing that Bihar can change. But what happened last week in the Assembly has tarnished the image of the state. Why did the government let it happen?
See, it was the last session of the Assembly in a state which is going for elections. The opposition parties wanted to take as much political mileage as possible over the issue of adjustment of bills worth Rs 11,412 crore. They only wanted cheap publicity. As far as we are concerned, the Bihar government has been very clear about this issue. There has been no scam or financial irregularity during our tenure. Each and every fact in this matter is clear. We were and are open for a debate. If they really want a debate, we are ready to call a special session of the Assembly. We have no problem with it.
But the fact is that the opposition does not want a debate. Otherwise, we would not have seen what we saw in the Assembly. It was a part of their strategy. They knew we would have scored in a debate. As I said earlier, all they want is cheap publicity. They wanted to show that politics is a dirty game and nobody can play it fair.
You said you were ready for a debate. The opposition wanted an adjournment motion but you said no. What was the problem? Why were you not ready for an adjournment motion?
First of all, let me clarify that we were ready for even a no-confidence motion. An adjournment motion should concern important recent incidents. We cannot discuss the honourable Patna High Court’s order inside the house. We cannot discuss the CAG report as the public accounts committee (PAC) has not yet submitted its report. The opposition knows it well. Actually, it never wanted a discussion. All it did was to gain media attention.
The Patna High Court says there is a possibility of financial irregularities in withdrawal of Rs. 11,412 crore under abstract contingency (AC) bills. The opposition says there is a scam. You are saying it is just a matter of adjustment of accounts. What is the truth?
CAG, in its report, never said anything about any financial irregularity. It just said that CAG is yet to receive detailed contingency (DC) bills in respect of AC bills. On the other hand, in the fodder case, it clearly made a statement about a scam. We accept there have been some delays in account adjustments, but we are working on it now. Till July 22, we had submitted DC bills of more than Rs 5,500 crore. We will submit the rest as soon as possible.
I want to add that we are not the only state that has not submitted DC bills on time. Jharkhand is yet to submit DC bills of Rs 6,009 crore for the period 1999-2008. Jammu and Kashmir has not submitted DC bills of Rs 2,725 crore. The Union health ministry has not yet submitted DC bills of Rs 9,789 crore for 1983-84. What I am trying to say is that account adjustment is an ongoing process.
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It has placed you in a confrontational situation with the judiciary.
Actually, we are trying to avoid it. According to the Article 151 (A), the moment we lay a CAG report on the table, it becomes the property of PAC. Unless PAC approves the report and its recommendations, the house cannot discuss it. The PAC report is yet to come. If one constitutional body is looking into the matter, how can a third party investigate it? The court has to look into this aspect also.
Coming to the economic condition of Bihar, an investment of Rs 1.67 lakh crore is proposed. Not even one per cent of this has been actually invested. Why?
At least the process has started. In the previous regime, nobody was even ready to come to Bihar. Now, the confidence of the private sector for investing in Bihar has increased. Besides, a majority of the investors want to invest in power and ethanol. For this, they need clearances from the central government. They need coal linkages, they need the law on ethanol production to be abolished. But it is sad that we are not receiving enough support from New Delhi.
Big names like Mukesh Ambani and Anand Mahindra came to Bihar, enjoyed the luxury of being state guests, but did not promise anything. Are you not disappointed?
We never expected anything from them in the first place. They may never invest here. However, we are very much hopeful about mid-cap companies. Recently, Sonalika Tractors opened its production facility in the state. Ambuja Cements also wants to invest in Bihar. Kolkata-based RPG group has shown interest in constructing a power plant in Bihar. Other companies have also shown interest in various sectors in the state.
You claim that Bihar has made tremendous progress in the last five years. But, according to a recent UNDP report, Bihar, along with a few other states, is poorer than 26 poor African countries. What is your take on that?
It should be a matter of concern for India and the government of India. Even today, a large section of our population is below the poverty line. Our resources are limited, but we are trying our best. It is worth mentioning here that recently, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that now there was no BIMARU state in India. It reflects our efforts; however, we are also concerned about those who have been left behind. That is why we are demanding a special status and a special package from the central government.
What is the stand of Bihar on the Goods and Service Tax ?
We support the reform proposal. But we have two conditions. One, the central government must compensate revenue losses to states for five years. Two, the Centre must ensure state autonomy. If these two conditions are met, we do not have any problem in supporting this proposal.
But why are there differences among NDA-ruled states? Punjab and Gujarat are supporting this proposal, while Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh are strongly opposing it.
This is no issue of ideology. Every state has to take its own decision. No NDA-ruled state is outrightly opposing the proposal. However, there are some legitimate apprehensions that must be addressed. However, I think whenever something new is implemented, it creates apprehensions. Most are just the fear of the unknown. If you remember, when VAT was being implemented, the same fears and apprehensions were expressed. However, today everybody is happy with VAT.