Yes Minister. Not really!

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

THE recent demolition drive in Jalandhar had the local MLA Sushil Rinku stand in front of the dredging machine and halt the exercise. In fact, Cabinet Ministers Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Om Parkash Soni have also expressed their reservations on the issue. What is your reaction?

I am just doing my job. Demolishing houses of the poor is neither on my agenda, nor do I support it. Our intention is to counter illegal selling of unattended land as colonies. Unscrupulous developers connive to regularise unfilled land by staging ‘managed’ protests. They also resell the same illegal land many times, like in case of Zirakpur. Those with vested interests are stealing crores from the state exchequer without paying any Change of Land Use (CLU) charges.

Fraudsters will be sternly dealt with. I will insult developers of illegal colonies publically and make them deposit Punjab’s money in the state treasury.

Who are these illegal developers?

I will not name anyone in particular. Our drive against the practice of illegal colonies putting money in private pockets doesn’t target any individual. Names don’t matter. We want to raze colonies that mushroomed during the 10 years of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government. It would have continued even now if we hadn’t put a check on it.

On what basis did you initiate the demolition drive?

Our department carried out a data compilation exercise of illegal settlements in urban bodies. The government is losing several hundred crores because of these structures. For example, in Ludhiana only 90,000 out of approximately 4.20 lakh buildings are paying due taxes. Similarly, in Jalandhar, we have a list of 96 illegal colonies. Unconstructed spaces in the name of colonies do not fall in this category.

You have faced opposition from your party leaders like PWD Minister Tript Rajinder Bajwa over the draft of the Sand Mining Policy after your visit to Telangana. What is your take on this?

The Chief Minister has never rejected my policy. Based on recommendations of the Centre, the policy that I submitted is very conclusive. Telangana is earning revenue of Rs 1,100 crore annually from sand mining, against a mere figure of Rs 40 crore earned by Punjab for the same period. Can you imagine that our neighbour, Haryana, with just one river has an annual income of about Rs 1,000 crore. If implemented, we can have a permanent source of annual revenue for the next 200 years. Also, people who pay upto Rs 4,500 for a trolley of sand will only have to shelve out Rs 800-1,000. But then, I can lead a horse to water, but I cannot make him drink it.

Besides politicians, you have pointed out involvement of senior officers in several controversial projects of the state government. Comment.  

An illegal colony is not a pin in the haystack, which cannot be seen with naked eyes. Such an activity is not possible without collusion between officers and developers when the project is being executed. This is a clear case of paisa sarkari, naukri sarkari and apni dukandari.

I won’t let this happen. I remember the Supreme Court’s observation that scandals will not stop until four or five officials lose their job. There will be a clause of immediate dismissal of officers who indulge in wrongful practices in my department. We will encourage the good ones, warn the bad ones and punish the ugly ones.

Does it disappoint you that despite a recommendation of action against three IAS officers — Sonali Giri, GS Kheira and Ghanshyam Thori — last year, for failing in their duties as commissioners, the office of Chief Minister has not granted the permission to proceed? You had also sought action against two PCS officers...

The Chief Minister knows everything and we have had our discussions on the matter. I cannot disclose the details publically. I respect the decisions of the chair, which have been taken in the best interest of the state.  

Your recent meeting with Congress president Rahul Gandhi birthed many assumptions. Particularly, after the Supreme Court gave you a clean chit on your alleged involvement in a road rage case (1988), those in political circles speculated about your aspiration to become the Deputy Chief Minister. What do you have to say?

These are all baseless rumours. I went to see Rahul Gandhi out of respect for him. Yes, my name was floated for the post of the Deputy Chief Minister and discussed with senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad at one point of time. But that was even before I had joined the Congress. I was assured a plum post by the BJP if I had agreed to contest from Kurukshetra. I refused because it was not a Punjab constituency. To me, the interest of Punjab matters the most.