BHARAT SURAKSHA YATRA

April 6 -- May 10, 2006

Press Statement issued by Shri L.K. Advani

Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha)
At a press conference in Jaipur on May 3, 2006

My Bharat Suraksha Yatra will conclude its journey in Rajasthan today. I am deeply touched by the scale and enthusiasm of the people’s support to the Yatra. In spite of scorching heat, milling crowds greeted the Yatra in towns as well as in villages and expressed their support to the message that the BJP is trying to convey through this mass-education campaign, which I have undertaken jointly with my Party President Shri Rajnath Singh. I would like to make a special mention of the roadside receptions and meetings yesterday in places like Aasind, Mandal, Beavar, Sanvalia and Ajmer. I was heartened by the large presence of women in the meetings.

The BJP is proud to have brought the issues of Good Governance and Development onto the centrestage of national agenda. The performance of the Vajpayee government between 1998-2004 testifies to our commitment to these issues. The same commitment can also be seen in states where the BJP is in power. I would like to make a special mention here of the track record of my party’s government in Rajasthan.

In November 2003, the BJP was voted to power by the people of Rajasthan, who were disenchanted with the misrule of the Congress party. Our Party faced a daunting task, considering that the state’s development had stagnated and the administration had become a victim of rampant corruption and insensitivity. It was therefore obvious that the new government would need time to undo the damage done by the previous government.

I am truly impressed by the performance of my Party’s government in Rajasthan, under the leadership of its dynamic Chief Minister Smt. Vasundhara Raje. I have been apprised of the following salient achievements of her government, for which I warmly congratulate the chief minister, all her ministerial colleagues, and the state Party unit headed by Dr. Mahesh Chandra Sharma.

• Rajasthan is now no longer considered one of the BIMARU states. On the contrary, it has firmly embarked on fast-track development, winning the praise of several central government agencies.
• The state government’s financial management has been exemplary. Not once during the past two years has it resorted to overdraft, nor has taken any advance from the Reserve Bank. The size of the state’s annual plan has nearly doubled – from Rs. 4,614 crore under the previous Congress government to Rs. 8,562 crore now. The state government plans to reduce fiscal deficit to zero well before 2008-09.
• Rajasthan’s performance in elementary and primary education, especially for girls, has been outstanding. The recruitment of 41,000 additional teachers last year, the planned recruitment of 31,000 teachers this year, and its success in bringing as many as 14.55 lakh new children to school, testify to its commitment to universalisation of primary education.
• Simultaneously, the government has been focusing on expanding and improving higher education, with private sector participation. The green signal given to three new universities, establishment of many new technology institutions and the setting up of a new medical university – these will put Rajasthan on the national and international map of higher education.
• I commend the state’s performance under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, in which it shares the first rank with Chhattisgarh, another BJP-ruled state. In highway construction, the state government’s work is not only unprecedented, but it has also become a model for the entire nation by embarking on its own version of the Golden Quadrilateral, with private participation. I find that district roads are also being rapidly improved and upgraded.
• In the critical area of power generation and supply, the BJP government has been making earnest efforts to tackle an entrenched problem which is due to years of neglect by the previous Congress governments. Smt. Vasundhra Raje’s government has spent Rs. 1,000 crores in two years for purchasing power from other states, whereas the previous government had spent only Rs. 500 crore in four years for the same purpose. The previous government also made insignificant investment in the sector, in which projects have a high gestation period. In contrast, the BJP government has sanctioned investments in setting up seven new power projects, with a capacity of 1525 MW, and a mega project with a capacity of 1000 MW.
• The government has sanctioned Rs. 4700 for 22 new water supply projects, of which 11 are already under implementation. 17 states will benefit from these projects. I congratulate the state government for launching a massive awareness campaign for water conservation.
• I am happy that the Rajasthan government is following Gujarat’s successful model of building large numbers of small-scale water conservation projects.
• Rajasthan is today in the forefront of women’s empowerment. More than one lakh women’s self-help groups have been established. As many 1.40 lakh women have organised themselves into milk cooperative committees.
• I am most heartened by the state government’s attention to mid-day meal scheme for school children. As many as one crore children are benefiting from this scheme in 74,000 schools. The scheme has also enlisted the participation of reputed NGOs like Akshay Patra, Nandi Foundation, etc.
• The government’s attention to tribal welfare has been praiseworthy.