Sharad Pawar, aka
Saheb, the name, his personality, his aura – all very distinctive. How can a
lay person like me even begin to talk about him. Sahyadri, since 1967, has been
closely observing his moves. Earlier people used to flock to hear him, but
these days his meetings wear a deserted look. At times they even get cancelled.
But still Saheb does not intend to quit politics. Politics is not like cricket.
In cricket, when a star player tries to delay his retirement, the BCCI ensures
that he calls it for the day. But in Sharad Pawar’s case, there is no one who
can actually tell him that his aura is somehow fading, people are no longer
wanting to hear him and hence he must step down from the position.
Unfortunately, since he is the chief of his party there is no one even to force
him into taking retirement from work.
The
reason why I am reminded of Saheb is that recently he had convened a gathering
in Jitubhau’s (Jitendra Awhad) Thane constituency. And looking at what he spoke
there, I am compelled to express my thoughts. At the meeting, Saheb had said
that he hasn’t been able to see or experience ‘Achche Din’ (good days). Now
neither me nor anyone else can doubt Saheb’s vision, isn’t it? He not only has
a clear vision about things happening around, but he can also clearly see
far-off things as well. Sitting in Baramati he can visualise what Brazil plans
to do with its sugarcane produced – whether they will manufacture sugar out of
it or ethanol, he knows it all. He can also visualise what will be the price of
sugar even in the international markets. As the agriculture minister, in
October-November only he could predict that there will be rains in December-January
which will grossly affect the grape growing farmers. And hence he decided to
announce packages for these farmers. He came up with a detailed proposal as to
how much package must be announced for every farmer, when it must be disbursed
and at whose behest it must be handed over to them. All of this he could see
because he is a divine visionary.
When
Prithvirajbaba was the chief minister, Saheb very well knew which files had
reached the chief minister’s office for signatures and which files had been
held back. Despite having a vision like this we wonder how come Saheb is unable
to see achche din. Well, after giving it a thought, I realised that may be
there is a difference between Saheb’s definition of achche din vis-à-vis our
definition. Saheb has infinite forms. It is difficult to apprehend when and in
which form Saheb will suddenly incarnate himself. During Saheb’s youth days,
one of his close Congress friends used to refer him as, “A man who will always
begin his speech with Shahu, Phule, Ambedkar and end his day with Agashe, Apte,
Dahanukar”. How conveniently he is used to changing his stance. And when he
said ‘I am yet to see achche din’ it shows his personality trait.
After
Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre, he started the Pradhan Mantri Awaas
Yojana and ensured that the poor get their rightful homes. Under this scheme,
the central government deposited Rs 2 lakh each to the bank accounts of the
beneficiaries. Concrete houses were built for nearly 3 crore people across the
country. Work of constructing pucca homes in both urban and rural areas is in
progress. Not just homes, but Modi government also ensured that toilets are
built inside these structures. And for this, the Centre provided financial
assistance of Rs 12,000 each to individual households to construct toilets. The
poor will now no longer need to go to the fields for cleaning. Nearly 70 lakh
private toilets and another 7 lakh public toilets have been constructed under
this scheme. The Modi government also started a scheme to provide free gas
connections under the Ujjwala Yojana to all those beneficiaries who got houses
built under the Awaas Yojana. They also received free electricity connection
and water connections.
When
Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, Saheb was the agriculture minister for
10 consecutive years. Even then we never heard Saheb insisting Sonia Gandhi,
who had complete control over the then Manmohan Singh government, to initiate
similar such schemes. Did Saheb, who often only takes a bird’s eye view, not
see the sufferings of the poor? A person who always talks about Shahu, Phule
and Ambedkar did not see that Modi government had actually come up with schemes
for the upliftment of the oppressed and the downtrodden. Shahu, Phule and
Ambedkar had worked hard for their entire lives for these people only. How come
Saheb hasn’t noticed the change brought about in their lives by the Modi
government?
Probably
if Modi government had planned schemes for a certain class of people like
Shahid Balwa, Vinod Goenka, Chordia or Avinash Bhosle, may be then Saheb would
have noticed and wouldn’t have complained. What is commendable about the Modi
government is that this government introduced the practice of directly
depositing grants, financial assistance of the various government schemes into
the bank accounts of the beneficiaries under the Jan Dhan Yojana. Till 2014, a
large section of the society, who revered Shahu, Phule and Ambedkar, did not
even have their personal bank accounts. From 1947 to 2014, Congress had held
power at the Centre. Indira Gandhi had won the 1971 Lok Sabha elections with
her ‘Garibi hatao’ (eradicate poverty) slogan. It was this Indira Gandhi only
who was instrumental in getting these banks nationalised. Even she never
thought of opening bank accounts of the poor in these government banks.
Under
the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samriddhi Yojana, Rs 6,000 per annum is deposited
directly to the bank accounts of the poor farmers. Why did Saheb, despite being
the agriculture minister, never felt the need to financially support the poor
farmers in this manner? Probably neither Saheb nor Sonia Gandhi nor her prince
ever realised that small landholders and poor farmers also lived in India. When
these people were in power for 10 consecutive years, did they not find a single
poor farmer who needed help from the Kisan Samriddhi Yojana? May be the farmers
only must be blamed for this. Saheb is considered as farmer’s saviour, at least
that is what the so-called intellectuals from Saheb’s faction have made people
to believe.
He never
considered the option of providing farmers the benefit of crop insurance
scheme. Is it that during his tenure as the agriculture minister the country
never faced natural calamities like heavy downpour or cyclones, droughts,
unseasonal rains, floods and deluges? Never did he attempt to make any changes
in the crop insurance schemes for the benefit of the poor famers affected due
to the natural calamities. Narendra Modi, within two years of becoming the
Prime Minister, made necessary changes in the erstwhile crop insurance scheme
to benefit the farmers. And the new Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana got
implemented since 2016. Under this scheme, a small percentage of premium is
taken from the farmers while the remaining premium amount is paid by the central
and the state governments. So far nearly 12 crore farmers have been benefitted
from this scheme. Farmers have so far received compensation to the tune of Rs
1.07 lakh crores under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Also, the Modi
government has disseminated nearly 23 crore Soil Health cards to the farmers.
Did
Saheb not notice all these schemes that were introduced and implemented for the
welfare of the farmers, the deprived, the labour class and the less privileged
sections of the society? Or has he deliberately decided to ignore all these
schemes? Due to his guru Yashwantrao Chawan, Saheb came in contact with Indian
scholar and Marathi literary critic Lakshman Shastri Joshi. Probably that must
have coaxed him into penning down his own dictionary. The definition of ‘achche
din’ according to a lay person is different than what Saheb has decided to
define it as. We, lay people, have just one wisdom. But people who hail from
Baramati, may be with their wisdom, are now coming up with such differential
definitions.
(Article Pre-Published in Times of India - Online, 05 September 2022)
Keshav
Upadhye, chief spokesperson
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