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BJP Chief Minister's Conference


BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY

Chief Ministers' Conference
September 11-12, 2004

Decisions taken at the conclusion of the Conference

The Bharatiya Janata Party organized a conference of its Chief Ministers in New Delhi on September 11 and 12, 2004. The Conference was chaired by the Party President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu. It was attended by former Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Deputy Prime Minister, Shri L. K. Advani and office-bearers of the Party.

The Chief Ministers who participated in the conference were: Shri Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Shri Arjun Munda (Jharkhand), Shri Manohar Parrikar (Goa), Shrimati Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan), Dr. Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), and Shri Babulal Gaur (Madhya Pradesh). Shri Manmohan Samal, Revenue Minister of Orissa (where the BJP is a partner in the ruling coalition) also attended.

After two days of deliberations on many issues, whose common theme was good governance for faster all-round development, the Conference adopted the following Charter of Action.

The President has set up a five-member Task Force for studying the election manifestos in all the BJP-ruled States, monitor their implementation, as well as the implementation of the following Charter of Action, and report to the President every six months. It will be headed by Shri Yashwant Sinha. Its members are: Shri Arun Jaitley, Shri Arun Shourie, Shri Vijai Kapoor, and Shri Sudheendra Kulkarni.

Charter of Action

Security and Law & Order

The BJP-ruled State Governments will intensify coordinated measures to continually improve security situation and law & order. Towards this end, our governments shall:

1) Keep strict vigil on terrorist, anti-national elements and Left-wing extremist organizations and take pre-emptive action against them.

2) Oppose repeal of POTA, as promised by the UPA Government.

3) Quickly enact effective anti-terrorism state laws, in case POTA is repealed.

4) Urge the Centre to take a proactive and coordinated approach to tackle Naxalite and other extremist organizations, in consultation with all affected state governments.

5) Ensure better policing and coordination in Naxal-prone states by developing a good road network, intelligence sharing, coordination meetings between different districts and by opening more police stations in affected districts.

6) Ask the Centre to help states affected by Naxalite violence to raise more India Reserve Battalions, with funds provided by the GoI.

7) Step up utilization of the allocations under the Rs. 1,000-crore Police Modernization Fund. More forensic laboratories, upgrading communication and transport equipment

8) Demand that the Centre release monies under this Fund in a timely manner, and not towards the end of the financial year. Also, these allocations should be non-lapsable.

9) Improve training and professionalization at lower levels of the police force.

10) Promote community policing, with a people-friendly approach.

11) Set up more courts, more police stations, more police outposts, improve prosecution, and make the investigations scientific.

12) Ensure speedy justice in cases of crimes against women, SCs, STs and weaker sections of society.

13) Examine the recommendations of the Malimath Committee on criminal justice, since most of these recommendations relate to the state governments.

Strengthening States' Finances

Improving the financial health of BJP-run State Governments shall be made a high priority. For this, our Governments shall --

1) Submit a supplementary memorandum to the 12th Finance Commission for raising the States' share in central revenues from the present 29.5 percent to 40 percent. The supplementary memorandum shall also seek significant relief to reduce the debt burden of States, with a one-time settlement of all old, high-cost loans. For this purpose, the finance ministers of the BJP-run State Governments will meet in New Delhi before October 15, 2004.

2) Strive to make BJP-ruled States models in fiscal management.

3) Enhance their capabilities for accessing greater funds from the World Bank, the ADB, other multilateral agencies, etc. for development projects.

4) Identify viable projects for borrowing from domestic financial institutions. For this, setting up of SPVs and other policy reforms to increase viability of projects shall be undertaken.

5) Re-allocate budgetary resources mainly for socially necessary and commercially less viable development projects.

6) Speed up swapping of high-interest debts under the scheme launched the by the earlier government.

7) Ask the Centre to classify State loans in three categories:

a. Loans raised for meeting natural calamities should carry zero interest, with the Centre bearing the full interest burden.
b. There should be greater flexibility on the quantum of loans State Governments can raise for infrastructure development and other productive enterprises.
c. Loans for meeting day-to-day expenses of the Government should be strictly regulated and capped.

8) Adopt innovative ways for augmenting internal resources by ensuring that local bodies collect full taxes, providing incentives to well-performing bodies, privatizing loss-making public sector units, and earmark the proceeds for socially necessary infrastructure projects, especially in rural areas.

9) Vigorously promote private investments and public-private partnerships in irrigation, roads, electricity, education, healthcare, housing, urban development, and employment-intensive industries. Create a dedicated nodal agency for promoting public-private partnerships, with necessary legal framework.

10) Carry out fiscal reforms that enable our Governments to get a greater share of the Central funds.

11) Carry out necessary reforms to benefit from the Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP), Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), Urban Reforms Fund (ARF) and other such incentive-linked funds, as well as from the Centre's various demand-driven and performance-related schemes.

12) Set up at least one Self-Help Group in every village and facilitate SHGs to access greater funds from the banking system. Women's SHGs should be given special assistance. This should be made a people's movement.

13) Set up a watchdog committee at the Centre to monitor discrimination against BJP-ruled States by the UPA Government.

Governance Reforms

1) The BJP as a party, and the BJP-run State Governments shall take effective steps to fight corruption - both at the political and at the bureaucratic levels.

2) This Chief Ministers' Conference will be followed by regular meetings of Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Education, Health, and Social Justice & Empowerment.

3) A mechanism shall be quickly evolved for sharing of best practices in good governance, from within BJP-ruled States as well as from other States.

4) Our Governments shall demand that State governments should have flexibility in implementing Centrally Sponsored Schemes as per the local needs.

5) Computerization of land records and establishing a record of rights of all agriculture and non-agriculture properties shall be completed before December 31, 2005.

6) All redundant and obsolete laws and procedures shall be repealed before December 31, 2005. A sunset clause will be introduced in all new laws.

7) Transparency and accountability at all levels of the government. Ensure that every petition received from the citizens is acknowledged and duly followed up.

8) Create a system of partnership between State Government, local bodies, and Resident Welfare Associations in urban areas.

9) Set up a Grievance Redressal System at taluks, districts, and at the State level, with regular review, and hold concerned authorities responsible for delay and non-response.

10) Reform all the laws, procedures and practices related to trade and business with the aim of greatly improving the ease of doing business in BJP-ruled States.

Accelerating All-Round Development

1) Focus on Bijlee, Sadak, Paani, Shikshaa, and Swasthya issues shall be strengthened. Targets will be fixed and their fulfillment reviewed every six months by Chief Ministers.

2) Set up a Task Force on employment generation with focus on

  • Better implementation of government schemes
  • Attracting private investment in employment-intensive sectors, especially tourism and textiles
  • Promoting self-employment and entrepreneurship
  • Promotion of vocational education and skill development

3) Rain water harvesting, creation of farm-ponds, erection of check dams, water-efficient irrigation systems, and drastic reduction in water losses will be given high priority. Gujarat's commendable achievements in water conservation should be replicated by other States.

4) Ask the Central Government to restore the priority given to the River-Linking Project by the NDA Government.

5) Promote Information Technology (software and hardware) and other knowledge-intensive enterprises. Spread E-literacy and programs for "IT for the Masses" on the Goa model.

6) Promote citizen friendly and development (Vikas) focused work culture at all levels of the government.

7) Take special steps to address regional imbalances, with the tehsil as the unit.

8) Clean and Green programs should be widely undertaken.

9) Take effective steps for preservation of cultural heritage and historical monuments, and for promotion of understanding about these monuments, on the Madhya Pradesh model.

10) Promote population control measures with appropriate incentives and disincentives for the popularization of the Two-Child norm uniformly among all sections of society.

11) Follow the Rajasthan model for reducing registration fees for women in transaction in property.

Focus on Social Sector Development

BJP-run State Governments shall:

1) Effective implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan and the mid-day meal scheme.

2) Take effective steps to reduce school dropouts, especially among girl students.

3) Continue the drive for recruitment of teachers in rural and far-flung and tribal areas.

4) Resist re-falsification of history textbooks by the UPA government.

5) Promote Yoga and value education in schools.

6) Launch "Antyodaya" programs to uplift the poorest of the poor. Subsidies for social security schemes should be better targeted for the poor.

7) Set up low-cost "Annapurna Dal Bhat" centers in cities on the Chhattisgarh model to cater to the needs of the poor.

8) Follow the Jharkhand model for encouraging tribal youth to pursue new careers such as doctors, pilots, IT professionals, etc.

Focus on Rural Development and Agriculture

BJP-run State Governments shall:

1) Urge the UPA Government to end delays in the allocation of funds to States, especially BJP-ruled States, for construction of rural roads under the Prime Minister's Grameen Sadak Yojana.

2) Set up an Advisory Committee on agriculture and kisan welfare for:

  • Making agriculture remunerative
  • Increasing farm productivity
  • Diversification of crops, with focus on horticulture
  • Drought-proofing of agriculture
  • Reform of agriculture markets
  • Modernize mandi infrastructure
  • Promote multi-commodity exchanges for future trading in agriculture goods in a big way
  • Promotion of food processing industries for value-addition
  • Increasing in the number of Kisan Credit Card holders
  • Implementing the crop insurance scheme (and the accident insurance scheme for kisans on the basis of the Gujarat model)
  • Protecting and preserving cow and her progeny for strengthening the village economy
  • Development of waste land on a priority basis with a timebound programme
  • Dealing with WTO-related issues

3) Create smaller panchayats, preferably one for two villages.

4) Make conducting Gram Sabha meetings mandatory.

5) Make it mandatory for panchayats to install a display board in every village to provide up-to-date information on funds received from various sources and their use.

6) Promote the "Model Village" concept and introduce incentives for best-performing Panchayats.

7) Vigorously implement Total Sanitation Program in villages, beginning with girls' schools.

8) Set up markets for the products of village artisans.

9) Emphasize use of KVIC and handloom products in government establishments and public sector organizations.

Main Points

1) Oppose repeal of POTA, which the UPA Government has promised to do shortly.

2) Quickly enact effective anti-terrorism state laws, in case POTA is repealed.

3) Submit a supplementary memorandum to the 12th Finance Commission for raising the States' share in central revenues from the present 29.5 percent to 40 percent. The supplementary memorandum shall also seek significant relief to reduce the debt burden of States, with a one-time settlement of all old, high-cost loans. For this purpose, the finance ministers of the BJP-run State Governments will meet in New Delhi before October 15, 2004.

4) Urge the UPA Government to end delays in the allocation of funds to States, especially BJP-ruled States, for construction of rural roads under the Prime Minister's Grameen Sadak Yojana.

5) Set up an Advisory Committee on agriculture and kisan welfare.

6) Vigorously promote private investments and public-private partnerships in irrigation, roads, electricity, education, healthcare, housing, urban development, and employment-intensive industries. Create a dedicated nodal agency for promoting public-private partnerships, with necessary legal framework. Improve the ease of doing business in BJP-ruled States.

7) Set up a Task Force on employment generation.

8) Rain water harvesting, creation of farm-ponds, erection of check dams, water-efficient irrigation systems, and drastic reduction in water losses will be given high priority. Gujarat's commendable achievements in water conservation should be replicated by other States.

9) Ask the Central Government to restore the priority given to the River-Linking Project by the NDA Government.

10) Promote population control measures with appropriate incentives and disincentives for the popularization of the Two-Child norm uniformly among all sections of society.

11) Computerization of land records and establishing a record of rights of all agriculture and non-agriculture properties shall be completed before December 31, 2005.

12) All redundant and obsolete laws and procedures shall be repealed before December 31, 2005. A sunset clause will be introduced in all new laws.

This Chief Ministers' Conference will be followed by regular meetings of Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Education, Health, and Social Justice & Empowerment.

Party President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has set up a five-member Task Force for studying the election manifestos in all the BJP-ruled States, monitor their implementation, as well as the implementation of the above'Charter of Action', and report to him every six months. It will be headed by Shri Yashwant Sinha. Its members are: Shri Arun Jaitley, Shri Arun Shourie, Shri Vijai Kapoor, and Shri Sudheendra Kulkarni.