BHUB A NESHWAR: The Orissa Chief Minister Biju Patnaik has called for the setting up of a constituent assembly to rewrite the Constitution grant fiscal autonomy to the states and to empower them to directly establish commercial ties with other countries.
Warming the Union govt that the road ahead could be perilous if it failed to understand the feelings of the states and grasp the meaning of the winds of change sweeping across the globe the Orissa strongman said the time had come to redraw Center-state relations and to admit the failure of the system that had been in vogue since independence.
In a wide ranging interview that covered the whole gamut of Center-state relations Patnaik offered the following panacea for the ills dogging the nation.
1) Defence and currency should remain within the exclusive domain of the union.
2) Framing of foreign policy should not remain the exclusive right of the Union govt. The union and the states should collectively decide on foreign relations and policies leading to war and peace.
3) Entering into treaties with foreign countries should involve the collective effort of the Center and the states.
4) The union and the states should have joint control Over issuance of passports. The citizenship will be Indian but the power to issue passports should vest in the states.
5) States must have the power to have trade and commerce with other countries to attract foreign investments and to directly deal with the money control of the world.
6) States should have the right to develop ports and infrastructure like railways.
7) Industrial development regulation and development of mines and ¥ exploitation of mineral resources should be left to the states.
8) Broadcasting should no longer be the exclusive privilege c Center. The control of the second TV channel should be given to the States
Accusing the Center of having acquired excessive powers treating the states as vassals had killed their initiative and creative energy Patnaik said the attitude of the Center over the last 45 years had brought about the economic ruin of the country. The consequence of all this was the “disgusting spectacle” of the finance m with a begging bowl to the International Monetary Fund. I become a beggars paradise and a sense of despondency) Set over the country. Let us recognize this fact and find a better way managing our affairs the chief minister said.
Calling for a national debate on these issues, Patnaik said he had called a meeting of the eastern zonal council on Sept2) at Bhubaneswar which would be attended by the chief ministers of West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa to discuss some of these questions.
Referring to the sacrifices made by his generation during the freedom struggle the septuagenarian chief minister has worked with three generations of politicians Patnaik said the dreams of his generation now lay shattered. The nation had gone bankrupt over centralization had only generated massive poverty and unemployment and the Planning Commission had aided and abetted the economic stranglehold of the Union government. As a consequence the slates were reduced to the position of supplicants and large chunks of India were reeling in poverty and squalor. The time had therefore come to face these facts squarely and prepare the blueprint for transfer of power from the union to the stales. Only this can bring about the economic resurrection of India and thereby ensure that what is left of India (after partition) survives as a cohesive nation.
Pointing out that secessionist movements like the ones in Punjab Jammu and Kashmir and Assam cannot be suppressed by force Patnaik said that a loosening of the Center’s grip on the economic front could help reverse these trends.
As regards the Planning Commission Patnaik’s view was that its approach is out of focus with the ground realities in the states.
These self-appointed central planners in the ultimate analysis are just file pushers who have failed to come to terms with the nation’s development needs”. As a result development of ports harbors railways and power generation has been lopsided.
“A shabby example” of such centralized panning is the decision to set up super thermal power stations in the south without planning for the supply of coal. Now they propose to move 40 million tonnes of boiler grade coal from Orissa to the south and for that purpose develop the Ennore port and build the railway network. If there was any common sense in Delhi they would have generated power near the coalfields and ensured transmission to other parts of the country”.
Example of now central authority had become overbearing the chief minister said the agriculture ministry in Delhi had acquired a gargantuan character with 30000 employees “to the utter bafflement of the states”. As a result “a mere joint secretary at the union level can prepare a policy paper for the states throw in bits of subsidy like a bone to the dogs and seek to control the functioning of the states” Similarly states like Orissa which were richly endowed with mineral wealth were obstructed every time they tried to exploit these resources for economic development.
‘The chief ministers had thus far held a chain of conclaves to highlight these issues but the Center was unwilling to grant even the little that the Sarkania commission had granted to the states. “If I have the power I will be damned if I surrender it” that is the attitude of the Center to the demand for decentralization he said.
As a result of Delhi’s obstinacy Assam was on the point of revolt. Only the threat of secession from Assam had forced the Union Govt to enhance oil and gas royalty “tremendously” Punjab though comparatively better off feels that it can bring about rapid development if it were to break from the union Orissa had unlimited poverty he said.
The Center’s policies over the last 45 years had resulted in nearly 60% of the people in the state being below the poverty line. “Therefore the manner of governance has not clicked and there is need for making some basic alterations”.
Patnaik said it was no body’s case that the states should have separate armies While the armed forces should remain in union control foreign relations leading to war and peace has to be collective effort of the Center and the states. Union and the chief ministers should collectively frame policies and not leave it to some joint secretaries.”
Article extracted from this publication >> September 20, 1991
