Commoners in Haryana prefer governance over saffronisation

Brothers Maharam and Dharampal have lost 90 per cent of their produce due to rain and hailstorm.

Is there a disconnect between the Haryana government and sentiments of people? The Bharatiya Janata Party government under Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar may be pushing ahead with its saffronisation agenda, but the commoners are not impressed. There are harsh realities which the citizens are facing - from corruption to crop loss due to unseasonal rainfall and hailstorm. And they hope the government gets its priorities right.

At a bus stop outside Hansi along the National Highway 10, we chance upon Karambir, Somdev and Amit Kumar - all in their 30s. They welcomed the state government's moves to inculcate values from Bhagwad Gita in schools, teach yoga and ban cow slaughter. But for them there are more pressing issues that need to be addressed.

Set priorities

"Corruption has intensified and made our lives miserable but nobody seems to be bothered," said Karambir. Amit pointed out at other issues. "Cost of fertiliser has shot up and availability has reduced. Recruitment by the state government has been frozen and private sector is not hiring. So where do youngsters go?" he said.

On being asked, Somdev said: "We are Hindus and it is important to know our values. But, we did not vote BJP to power for that."

Last year, when Haryana went to polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised development of the state which shall be free from corruption. When Assembly results were declared, it was BJP all the way - a first in the state's history. It clearly showed that people had trusted the party's pro-development agenda as was declared in the manifesto. But now, a look at the 17-page manifesto, released by the BJP state unit, showed that barring prevention of cow slaughter, there was nothing that the ML Khattar government later chose to announce.

However, while citizens are raising questions about the state government's perceived saffronisation programmes, there are those who are satisfied. Vishva Hindu Parishad general secretary Surendra Jain seemed happy with the Khattar government.

When asked about the anomalies in executing things not mentioned in the party manifesto and not executing things that were mentioned, Jain said: "What is wrong if in addition to the manifesto other things are being done? Has the government stopped widening the roads?"

Jain also defended the ban on beef and teaching of yoga in schools. "If nobody dares to demand pork in countries like Saudi Arabia then why should beef be so dear to people in India?" he asked.

In Hisar, Bajrang Dal district chief Sandeep Bansal voiced his "plans" to counter the alleged "Christian propaganda" as he "thanked" the Khattar government for its "right" moves. "We are drawing up a list of those who convert but still want benefits of SC/ST. We will get their reservation benefits cancelled," he said.

Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha vice-president Ram Kumar Sharma talked about enlarging the scope of 'Bahu Lao Beti Bachao Abhiyan'. So far there have been just two such cases.

The crop loss due to rain and hailstorm has added to the people's impatience with the state government. When we travelled to Bhiwani district, it was difficult to miss the acreage of destroyed wheat, mustard and vegetable produce.

Crop loss

Brothers Maharam and Dharampal, who share a 16.5-acre mustard farm, are aghast. "Ninety per cent of our farm produce is gone. The government is undecided about our demand for `25,000 per acre as compensation? we had invested more that `32,000 per acre to prepare the fields for harvest," Maharam said.

Next door, Raj Kumar, who takes pride in being an organic farmer, said he didn't have any option left. "The only income I have now is from my dairy. But how much that can help me? From my farm produce I used to feed my family, my animals and make a living," he said. Raj Kumar's father Kamal Singh rued, "The way these crops have been damaged, I cannot even feed my animals."