National Convention on Right to Employment

Organised by the
Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha
New Delhi - 31st July 2006

Synopsis of Shri Advaniji’s inaugural speech

Fulsome praise for BJYM’s effort.

Most probably it’s the first time ever that a youth organization has conducted such an intensive nationwide survey on the implementation of an important governmental scheme.

The scheme, under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (NREGA), was launched February this year in 200 districts in the country.

And BJYM’s sample survey covers 124 districts to assess the status of implementation of NREGA.

Which means that the scope of the survey is quite comprehensive.

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Blend of political commitment and professionalism

A quick look at the questionnaire created for the survey or at the final presentation prepared to show the findings of the survey demonstrate that the BJYM’s effort is quite professional – from the village level right up to the central level where the data has been collated, analysed and presented.

I congratulate BJYM for this reason too: it is certainly the closest a youth organization affiliated to a political party has come to conducting an opinion poll on such a nationwide scale.

It requires professionalism of a high order, since the practice of conducting opinion polls has evolved into a sophisticated science. When applied to opinion polls on the voting patters in elections – such as exit polls or pre-election surveys --, this science is called psephology, with which people in India are now quite familiar.

Of course, your survey is a combination of collection of data and opinion. This blend of political commitment and professionalism is rare in Indian politics.

I therefore not only commend the BJYM for this, but also urge it to develop such professional knowledge and skills with regard to many other challenges facing the nation.

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NREGA: Congress propaganda and BJP’s contribution

Yuva Morcha’s survey deserves kudos also for what it has revealed.

All of us know that the UPA government introduced the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) with a lot of trumpeting.

It was being projected as the Congress president’s gift to the rural poor, as a unique idea mooted by the National Advisory Council, before the office of its chairperson got embroiled in the ‘office of profit’ controversy.

What was carefully hidden was the fact that all the previous rural employment generation schemes – including the Sampoorna Rozgar Yojana introduced by the Vajpayee government, which was a ‘food-for-work’ programme – were disbanded and subsumed within the NREGA in the 200 districts in which it was launched.

I am only saying this only to refute the propaganda of our adversaries that the NDA government had done nothing for rural employment.

This is not to say that we oppose NREGA simply because it has been introduced by the UPA government.

It’s not the BJP’s political culture to do so.

We extend constructive support to any positive initiative taken by the government, if we deem it to be in the interest of the country and the common man.

Which is why, the BJP supported the passage of the Act in Parliament in August 2005.

We too believe that 100 days of guaranteed employment in a year to any rural household for unskilled manual work is a very useful and necessary policy intervention in mitigating rural unemployment.

Of course, we must remember – and I am happy that the Yuva Morcha’s presentation has noted this point – that it was a BJP leader, Shri Kalyan Singh, who made significant contribution to enriching the content of the legislation. The Standing Committee, which he headed, succeeded in getting many important amendments included in the final bill.

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Yuva Morcha survey’s startling revelations

But I was on the point of what the Yuva Morcha’s survey has revealed.

In the first six months (Feb-July 2006), the two states that have registered the highest level of success in implementing this scheme are both BJP-ruled!

Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan top the list of the states in total employment provided

MP: 18, 05000

Rajasthan: 8,50,000

I take this opportunity to warmly congratulate the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan – Shri Shivraj Sinhji Chauhan and Smt. Vasundhara Raje – for this success.

The other telling revelation of the Yuva Morcha’s survey is that the “Percentage of job cards issued against applications received is lowest in five UPA ruled states” – and this list includes the Communist-ruled West Bengal.

Now, if we take these two findings together, what is the unambiguous political message that they convey?

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BJP’s commitment to Development & Good Governance

It’s simply that the BJP-run governments are far ahead of others in terms of commitment to Development and Good Governance.

Last year, India Today voted Dr. Raman Singh, chief minister of Chhattisgarh, as the Best Chief Minister in India, based on his performance.

Earlier, Shri Manohar Parrikar, the former chief minister of Goa, had won a similar distinction for the remarkable work he did in his state.

All of us know about the sustained campaign of vilification that Gujarat and its chief minister Shri Narendra Modi have been subjected to by our political adversaries.

But early this year – on 31st January 2006 -- the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) issued a statement which affirmed: “CII confident about Gujarat Economy surpassing the growth rate of 16% in coming years”.

Note the figure: 16% state GDP growth per year.

And here is a BJP-ruled state which, according to CII, the country’s premier business organization, is all set to achieve 16% growth rate.

Let me quote just two paras from that statement.