Gujarat can do without VIP outsiders

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, JAN. 31. ``Keep these Delhi VIPs out of Gujarat,'' whispered a senior bureaucrat in Ahmedabad to a journalist accompanying the Prime Minister's high-powered delegation that visited Gujarat on January 29. Only a few hours earlier, an official in Bhuj had whispered: ``Keep this Ahmedabad crowd out of the district.''

Perhaps Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit to the earthquake-hit State was necessary to convey that the whole nation stood by Gujarat in this hour of tragedy. Inevitably, the entire police and civilian brass found itself having to cope with the visit. The distraction could not be helped.

After the first few days of the tragedy when the extent of the damage is known and when there is a fairly good idea of what needs to be done, there is a desperate need for ``brigade majors'', without allowing the generals and the field marshalls to crowd the relief sites. Before it becomes a serious problem, the Prime Minister would have to put a ban on all Central Ministers playing the busy-body.

Mr. Advani has already reached Gandhidham. This is his third visit in six days but this time he has a few journalists in tow. As it is Kutch district is as crowded with journalists, local and foreign, as was Allahabad recently with pilgrims.

Mr. C.P. Thakur, Union Health Minister, who was part of the prime ministerial delegation, could not resist the temptation of holding a press conference once back in Delhi. Ms. Jayawanti Mehta, Minister of State for Power, who was also part of the entourage, has, predictably, informed the media in Mumbai on her plans for Bhuj and Anjar.

Of course, Mr. George Fernandes, Defence Minister, has already been there, grabbing headlines with his wild guesses. If he proves correct about one lakh deaths, he can claim to be the smarter than everyone else; if he proves wrong, that would be one more essay in Fernandes-type irresponsibility.

Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan says he would visit Gujarat on February 2 to see for himself how the restoration of the telecommunication system was going on. What personal contribution Mr. Paswan can make, of course, eludes sane minds. Not to be left behind, Mr. Paswan's Minister of State, Mr. Tapan Sikdar, has also decided to visit Gujarat on February 7.

Each Minister is accompanied by a group of busy-bodies whose job it is to look after the comfort and ``dignity'' of the concerned Cabinet member. Gujarat can certainly do without having to cope with this onslaught of Central Ministers and officials. Only a handful of these outside visitors show the requisite sensitivity not to insist on protocol, etiquettes and creature comforts.

Rescue, relief and rehabilitation involve nuts-and- bolts jobs, requiring local knowledge and an awareness of the local topography; the Collector and the DSP - those two institutions of the Indian State - are the ideal sources of information, requirements and solutions. The strategy has to be to empower - rather than supplant - the district bureaucracy to cope with the crisis.

A sub-inspector's job cannot be done by a DIG; a patwari's knowledge is far more relevant to the revenue secretary's wisdom. Kutch needs sub-inspectors, junior engineers, para-medics, not inspector-generals, chief engineers, or health ministers.

Obviously, there is no dearth of supplies. What is needed is a sense of priorities, deployment of resources and supplies as per those priorities. In this task, the outsiders, however well- meaning, are of little use, and often in the way.

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