Coronavirus: Lockdown 1.0 was imposed at an interval of 4 hours, which resulted in chaos for migrants, says Ashok Gehlot

No consultation with states happened before the announcement of the economic package by the central government, says Rajasthan chief minister

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot gives interesting insights into how the states and the Centre have so far tackled the spread of COVID-19. He rues that states got just 4 hours of notice before the Centre imposed the lockdown. The Centre’s interaction with the states should be more meaningful, and it should treat states as equal partners in the federal structure, Gehlot tells DH’s Chaitanya Gudipaty in an interview. Excerpts:

Q) Revival of the economy has been a concern for many states. How does Rajasthan plan to put the pedal to the metal?

The state government will take concrete steps to revive industrial units and create a conducive environment for entrepreneurial activities in Rajasthan.

For resuming economic activities and imparting an impetus to the state economy, we constituted a task force early on, headed by Arvind Mayaram (Retd. Finance Secretary, GOI) to suggest policy interventions and a plan to combat the impact of the virus. We have always been found handholding trade, industries, services, real estate, farming and all other sectors that would help speed up the economic growth of the state. Employment generation is one of the top-most priorities of the state government. We will come out with the policies realigned to the needs of different sectors.

Q) To safeguard the interests of migrant workers, Yogi Adityanath's government is mulling a permission policy for other states. What are your views on that? Do you intend to plan a migrant worker policy along similar lines?

Though we have not received the details of any such policy by the Uttar Pradesh government, India being a free country governed by constitutional provisions, restrictions cannot be imposed on anybody seekingemployment outside their state. This sort of restriction would not stand the test of legality. From the standpoint of pragmatism also. this would be counter-productive and result in chaos.

Without imposing any restrictions, our government plans to ensure that those migrant workers who wish to seek employment in Rajasthan should get suitable employment here. For this, the state has launched an online employment exchange with special emphasis on migrant workers.

Q) Your Bhilwara model was a big success. Why was the model not replicated across the state? Why are the results so different in Bhilwara and rest of Rajasthan?

The essence of Bhilwara Model is ruthless containment, strict compliance of the curfew and screening of the total population of the district. The same model has been applied in the whole state, wherever coronavirus hotspots emerged. This is also to be understood that each place has a different geography, population density and other variations.

We followed the same model for all the hotspots in the state-- by way of imposing curfew, sealing the area, massive screening and total restriction on movement. Yet another strategy has been to increase the number of coronavirus tests, so that not a single case remains undetected in the state. Increase in the number of tests has resulted into the number of positive cases going up. As of June 3, the number of active cases is 2766 and the number recoveries is 6506. The situation has been managed effectively.

Q) Rajasthan is home to several manufacturing industries for textiles, groundnut oil, mustard, among others. Do you envisage a time period when such industries will be back to optimal capacity?

The government and its agencies are working tirelessly to facilitate the resumption of functioning at optimal levels for industries.District collectors, officials of the industries department, RIICO etc have been sensitized to ensure all possible facilities are made available to industrial and manufacturing units. On account of the large-scale migration of workers, some of the units may encounter shortage of industry-specific workers. The government is aware of all such issues and is trying its best. I hope the industries that you have mentioned, would not take too long to resume optimal functioning.

Q) There are around 3,000 active COVID-19 cases in the state and majority of them are being attributed to returnees. Do you expect the tally to go up given that air travel has been permitted?

When there is an inflow of a large number of people, an increase in the number of coronavirus-positive cases is quite understandable. As of today, out of nearly 9475 total positive cases in the state, migrants constitute almost 2712 positive cases. As the to and fro movement of migrants has almost settled down, I believe after some days there will be some respite. Any way, we are ready for any eventuality.

Q) What are the migrant transport management initiatives Rajasthan is taking to help improve the situation?

Apart from the special trains, Rajasthan has pressed into service a huge number of free of cost "Shramik Special Buses". Senior officers have been made nodal for each state to coordinate the inter-state movement of migrant workers. All SDMs of the state have been given the responsibility to ensure that no worker is found walking along the roads in their jurisdiction. If a group of workers are found walking on roads, immediate arrangements for their temporary stay, food etc. are to be made and buses to be provided to send them to destinations by these SDMs. This proved to be a very effective measure.

Q) What do you think of how the Centre and states handled the pandemic. Any particular state you want to single out for effectively responding to the situation?

The Centre and all the state governments are doing their best to fight the coronavirus pandemic. At this juncture, it is not appropriate to judge others. There is always a room for improvement and more so when we look back and think that a particular situation could have been handled differently.

Q) How far are states involved in the decision-making process on the Centre's COVID-19 strategy? Why is there a tussle between the Opposition and the ruling party on the pandemic?

As far as Rajasthan is concerned, there are some interactions happening at various official levels between the Union Government and the state government. In addition, there had been a couple of video conferences between the PM and CMs. As and when required, we write to the Union Government on issues we deem fit. Lockdown 1.0 was imposed abruptly by the Union Government with an interval of 4 hours only. This has resulted in chaos for migrants including labourers, which was avoidable. No consultation with states happened before the announcement of the economic package by the central government. So, we feel that the interaction should be more meaningful-- states should be treated as equal partners in a federal structure.

Q) When is the leadership crisis in Congress going to end and how? Why doesn’t Rahul Gandhi want to come back as Congress chief and why is Sonia Gandhi reluctant to continue in the top role for a long time?

There is no leadership crisis in Congress. Sonia-ji and Rahul-ji are consensus leaders of Congress who enjoy people's support throughout India. Rahul-ji gave up his post taking the moral responsibility of Congress' performance at some point. This is not reluctance but an example to be followed by others. It is between the party and Rahul-ji as to what role he wishes to play at what point in time. But his vision and energy are a source of great hope for this country.

Q) Why is the relatively younger generation of leaders in Congress restless? Jyotiraditya Scindia joined BJP. Sachin Pilot's discomfort with you is also talked about. Where will this old versus young turf war will lead the Congress?

Mostly it is the media that blows things out of proportion. For somebody to have political aspiration is valid and quite understandable. Except for the unfortunate happenings in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is united and committed to serving the nation to the best of its abilities. History bears witness to this. All parties have a synergy between the experience of old leaders and the energy of young ones. There is no turf war and issues are addressed in a democratic spirit as and when they come up.