Third term (2007–2012) The Sardar Sarovar Dam, undergoing a height increase in 2006. Modis Government has focused on clean energy sources for meeting the energy requirements of the state, such as hydroelectric power (pictured above) and solar energy in addition to biofuels and wind energy.[63] Gujarat is a semi-arid state and, according to Tushaar Shah, was ... never known for agrarian dynamism but in recent years[when?] has improved its agricultural output substantially, in large part due to projects relating to improvement of groundwater supplies in Saurashtra, Kachchh and the north, as well as efforts to increase the use of micro-irrigation and to provide more efficient power supply to farms. Public irrigation measures in the central and southern areas, such as the Sardar Sarovar Project, have not been so successful in achieving their aims.[64] Development projects Successive BJP governments under Patel and Modi supported NGOs and communities in the creation of infrastructure projects for conservation of groundwater. By December 2008, 500,000 structures had been constructed, of which 113,738 were check dams. While most check dams remained empty during the pre-monsoon season, they helped recharge the aquifers that lie beneath them.[64] 60 of the 112 Tehsils which were found to have over–exploited the groundwater table in 2004 had regained their normal groundwater level by 2010[65] and Gujarat had managed to increase its groundwater levels at a time when they were falling in all other Indian states. As a result, production of genetically-modified Bt cotton, which could now be irrigated using tube wells, increased to become the largest in India.[64] The boom in cotton production and utilization of semi–arid land[66] saw the agriculture growth rate of Gujarat increase to 9.6% in the period 2001–2007.[67] For the decade 2001–2010, Gujarat recorded a Compound annual growth rate of 10.97%, the highest among all Indian states.[66] The system of supplying power to rural areas has been changed radically and has had a greater impact on agriculture than the irrigation works. While states such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu provided free electricity to farms, and most other states provided subsidised power, the Gujarat government between 2003–2006 reacted to concerns that such measures result in waste of the power supplied and of groundwater itself. With the Jyotigram Yojana scheme, based on ideas developed by the International Water Management Institute, agricultural supplies were rewired to separate them from other rural supplies and then the electricity used by farms was rationed to fit with scheduled demand for irrigation and consequently to reduce the amount of subsidy being paid. The farmers objected to this at first but came to realise that the outcome was that they were receiving a supply that suffered less from interruption, was of a more consistent voltage and was available when they most needed it for irrigation purposes. Other states have since begun to adopt similar, although not identical, strategies.[64] Debate on Gujarat miracle Modis government has worked to brand Gujarat as a state of dynamic development and economic growth and prosperity, using the slogan Vibrant Gujarat.[68][69][70] However, critics point out that Gujarat has a relatively poor record when it comes to human development, poverty alleviation, nutrition, and education. The state is 13th in India for poverty, 21st for education and 44.7% percent of children under five are underweight and 23% are undernourished putting the state in the alarming category on the Hunger Index.[71] However, officials from the state of Gujarat claim that Gujarat outperformed India as a whole in the rates of improvement of multiple human indicators such as female education, between 2001 and 2011. Furthermore, they state that dropout rates declined from 20% in 2001 to 2% in 2011, and maternal mortality declined by 32% from 2001 to 2011[72] Political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot states that the development in Gujarat has been limited to the urban middle class, whereas rural dwellers and lower castes have become increasingly marginalised. He cites the fact that Gujarat ranks 21st among the 28 Indian states in terms of its Human Development Index, due to the lack of development in rural Gujarat. He states under Modi the number of families living below the poverty line has increased, and that particularly rural adivasi and dalits have become increasingly marginalised.[73] In July 2013, Economics Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen criticised Narendra Modis governance record and said he did not approve of it, under his administration, Gujarats record in education and healthcare is pretty bad.[74] However, economists Arvind Panagariya and Jagdish Bhagwati state that Gujarats social indicator improved from a much lower baseline than other Indian states. They point to Gujarats superior performance in raising literacy rates when compared to other states in India and the rapid improvement of health indicators in Gujarat as evidence that its progress has not been poor by any means.[75] Cabinet issues In 2010 Modi made a speech at Mangrol in which he justified the extrajudicial killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, during the election campaign in response to Sonia Gandhis speech calling him a merchant of death,[76] and referred to Sohrabuddins killing. For this speech the Election Commission of India, a constitutional body governing election proceedings in India, cautioned Modi as it considered it as indulging in an activity which may aggravate existing differences between different communities.[77] In 2010 Amit Shah, Modis close confidant and Home minister in his government was indicted for having ordered the killing of Sohrabuddin and two others, after spending three months in jail he was released on bail, and subsequently reelected in one of Ahmedadbads constituencies.[73][78] In 2012 Maya Kodnani another of Modis former ministers from 2007 - 2009 was convicted of having participated in the Naroda Patiya massacre during the 2002 violence.[79][80] She is the first female and first MLA to be convicted in a post-Godhra riots case.[81] While first announcing that it would seek the death penalty for Kodnani, Modis government eventually pardoned her in 2013 and settled for a prison sentence.[82][83][84] Sadbhavana Mission and Fasts During late 2011 and early 2012, Modi undertook a series of fasts as part of a Sadbhavna Mission (Goodwill Mission), meant to reach out to the Muslim community in Gujarat.[85] Modi announced that he believed that his fast would further strengthen Gujarat’s environment of peace, unity and harmony.[86] The mission started on 17 September 2011 in Ahmedabad with a three-day fast aimed at strengthening the atmosphere of peace, unity, and harmony in the state. He observed 36 fasts in 26 districts and 8 cities.[87] Some Muslims were unimpressed with his fasts, and one incident in which Modi refused to wear a skull cap offered to him by a Muslim cleric was deemed an insult by the cleric.[88] When he was fasting in Godhra, the site of the train burning that sparked the 2002 riots, a number of activists were detained for allegedly planning rallies against Modi.[89][90] Others criticized his fast as a public relations mission.[91] Modi himself denied that the mission was about wooing any particular community or religion.[92] Legislation and appointments In 2011, the Gujarat state organisation of Congress banned the Gujarati-language TV 9 television channel from covering its events and prohibited access to its press conferences.[93] Modi criticised this decision, saying that Journalists on Twitter who spoke against Congress, were blocked. Here they banned a TV channel. Their crime is that they exposed cracks in the ghar nu ghar (own your home) scheme of the Congress. Yet this party talks about democracy.[94] On 25 August 2011, the Governor of Gujarat, Kamla Beniwal, appointed Justice R. A. Mehta to the post of Lokayukta of Gujarat, a critical anti–corruption post that had been lying vacant since 2003. Mehta was recommended for the post by the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court in June 2011.[95] Beniwal made this decision without consultation with and approval from Modi and his council of ministers.[96] This marked the beginning of a strained relationship between Modi and Beniwal. On 25 September 2011, Modi accused the Governor of running a parallel government in the state supported by the Indian National Congress party and demanded that she be recalled.[97] The appointment of Mehta was challenged in the High Court by the Gujarat government. The two-member high court bench gave a split verdict on 10 October 2011. In January 2012, a third member upheld Beniwals decision.[98] Modi has also accused Beniwal of delaying a bill for reservation of 50% of seats in local government for women.[99] Modi interacted with netizens on Google+ on 31 August 2012.[100] The chat session was also broadcast live on YouTube.[100] The questions were submitted before the chat, and those broadcast were mostly based on issues about education, youth empowerment, rural development and causes of urbanisation.[101] The hashtag #ModiHangout became the most trending term in India at Twitter on the day of the session, whereas #VoteOutModi, used by Modis opponents, became the third most trending term in the country.[100] The event made Modi the first Indian politician to interact with netizens through live chat on the internet.[102] Fourth term (2012–present) A skyscraper in the under construction GIFT City, described as a pet project of Narendra Modi.[103] Further information: Gujarat legislative assembly election, 2012 In the 2012 Gujarat legislative assembly elections, Modi won from the constituency of Maninagar with a majority of 86,373 votes over Sanjiv Bhatts wife, Shweta, who was contesting for the Indian National Congress.[104] The BJP as a whole won 115 of the 182 seats; it has formed the government in Gujarat since 1995[105] and has had an absolute majority throughout Modis time in office.[106] Later in the by-elections for six seats, the BJP won all the seats in Gujarat which consisted of four assembly seats and 2 Lok Sabha seats. Interestingly, BJP won all these seats although Modi never campaigned for its candidates and all the seats were held by the Congress prior to the by-elections.[107] This brought up the number of seats held by the BJP in the state assembly to 119.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 06:13:03 +0000
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