Nothing can prevent RSS from coming to J&K; India is a free country : Haseeb Drabu

J&K’s finance minister Dr Haseeb Drabu, also a former banker and economist, was one of the prime architects of PDP-BJP alliance along with BJP’s Ram Madhav. Drabu is considered as one of the most influential ministers in current J&K government, who recently managed to get Rs 80,000 crore package from New Delhi. In conversation , Drabu talks about how breaking of consensus on economic reforms is big threat to India in view of GST bill, how PDP’s coalition with BJP is a new experiment that Muslims of India have to live with, corruption in flood rehabilitation relief and how National Conference not PDP facilitated institutional entry of RSS in J&K. Drabu claims that pro-freedom leaders didn’t reciprocate to the gestures of the PDP-BJP government which created problems.

PDP by aligning with BJP is thought to have paved way for RSS in J&K. National Conference refers to your government as Nagpur Sarkar?

What prevents RSS from coming to J&K? You think if you wouldn’t have allowed they would not come. There is already a lot of their (RSS) influx here. Nothing prevents RSS from holding a rally here. It is a free country. What is the thing of we have become tool to bring them in. There is nothing like that. Then you can legitimately argue, who got India into Kashmir. The Congress came in through an alliance only. How do they define 1951 and 1975 accords? And that time discourse was that Congress “Gandi Naali Ke Keede Hain.’

Muslims of India are unhappy with PDP’s alliance with BJP?

I also have an issue with the Muslim political group in India. What were they doing between 1991 till 2003-04. Did anybody raise a voice about what was happening in J&K, not a single voice came from India. So precious little can be expected from them. When Babri Masjid was demolished, the most peaceful place was J&K that was the level of disengagement between Muslims of India and Muslims of Kashmir. Lets face those realities. They also need certain different understanding of how the system will work. We believe, this is the process of engagement, which will even out the rough edges. It is an experiment to engage with new idea of India, where religion is at the core and culture has taken a back seat.

Is J&K collateral damage of this transition in India?

I don’t think we are. We are a bold enough. This is why it is a bold decision. Don’t you recollect and please tell this to Omer Abdullah that the first person to support an RSS man Ved Prakash Bajaj in 1980 was Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. National Conference voted for him in Jammu municipal corporation elections against Congress. Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah at that time said in as many words that ‘Yeh Koi Rakshas Nahi Hai’. He went on saying, “They are my kith and kin and only in this way we can reduce mutual distrust.” So, the first man in this way to get RSS in Jammu and Kashmir by full backing of NC was Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. Omer’s grandfather got them here and gave them dignified position. And Mr Bajaj won. We do hope in this alliance with BJP, there are some of the rough edges that would also get evened out. So you cant see it from that perspective.

Does it mean minorities have to compromise?

In so much as the minorities have to engage, principle parties also have to learn how to live in composite manner. So, the incidents that keep happening here are there are not acceptable.

Many people have referred to you as Dream Merchant. Are You?

I think I am a dream merchant. I dream for my people. Only twice packages have come to J&K in last 60 years and both the time I was involved. Now I will say this on record. I as economic advisor drafted the Prime Minister’s package when Mr Muzaffar Baig was the finance minster during PDP-Congress rule in the state. It is recorded on the files. And this is the second time we got the package, which again I drafted along with Government of India. I drafted the package not withstanding the changes at the last minute. In the last 60 years has any other government got it? If this a way to run down the person who has the ideas and wants to implement them, well I have very little but contempt for such thought.

Is Self Rule idea of PDP still relevant?

Self Rule document is my vision and view of how things should go forward in J&K. But today we are not in a position to implement it. If we had got 60 seats in assembly, our political agenda would have been completely different. In much as BJP would have had a different political agenda, had they got 60 seats in assembly. So, these are the situations where we act in confines of a system. We didn’t get the mandate that we wanted so we are facing a reality and are trying to do as much as we can within that space.

Did you ever espouse the idea of independent Jammu and Kashmir?

It is not about my individual political view. It is not about espousing the idea either. We have to see practicality of any thing. I am not a great leader. I have not been in politics till eight months back. I have been an independent thinker and some sort of economist.
Mr Muzaffar Baig and I authored Self Rule document. But today might not be the time, where we can implement it. If you remember, Self Rule document says, this is framework towards resolution. So this is the paper I identify with.

Who should be credited for resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue process?

Some credit must go to Mufti sahab. It is in AoA and completely on his doing that we have put it in AoA. It was difficult time negotiating that with BJP. But today some credit must go to Mufti sahab for his persistence and conviction that this (dialogue) is the only way out. Mufti sahab does seem to have prevailed. Obviously, if he says something on November 7, talks won’t start on November 8. He has had a meeting with Prime Minister, where he has talked extensively about it.

Now that India and Pakistan are talking, will you open the internal dimension and talk to Hurriyat?

I am sure it must be happening at one level or the other. There are different roles for different people. I am not in thick of all that. I am sure, it is being talked about by the right people to the right people. Some minister has already said in the parliament about talks with Hurriyat. If somebody makes a statement in the parliament then there is something going to happen.

You have not given space to pro-freedom leadership? Syed Ali Geelani is under continuous house arrest and Jama Masjid is under frequent curfews?

I don’t think government of J&K led by Mufti sahab is looking at physical space. I think it is looking at political space. And a lot of political space was given from day one, which was not reciprocated well. There must be sensitivities that we are operating in and that system has certain constraints and certain limits. It has to be done in a certain manner. And I think nobody will do what Mufti sahab has been doing in last eight months to provide political space. Don’t interpret it like Jama Masjid Ko Curfew Laga Diya. That is not the space we are talking about. You are talking of political space where engagement can happen and without getting into specific examples, I can tell you that it was done from day one. However, there was enormous amount of disappointment on the way it was reacted to. So, some course correction and navigational changes were made. But, again it is with his dexterous way of handling politics that Mufti sahab has brought it back to some form where there is a statement in the parliament. I think so far it was incumbent on PDP that they must engage with Hurriyat—one thing we worked hard to get BJP to agree on in AoA– as it was very important, because they have a stake and are stakeholders. It is one of the cardinal beliefs of Mufti sahab that this must be done. Now it is incumbent on this group (pro-freedom camp) also to reciprocate in certain dignified nuanced manner, not in a knee jerk kind of a thing. Certain mature political response must come. I think that has been lacking. And that has led to delays more than anything else.

How do you see this PDP-BJP government?

We try to provide a representative government in the state. You could not have governed the state without the participation of a large mandate to BJP in Jammu. That was the key factor. And I think the most important facet which doesn’t get the same kind of play is this is the first time we have tried to get Jammu and the Kashmir together. It is a one state but there are ethinic, geographical, religious and linguistic differences.

You also have to recognize that there is a very large mandate in the country, which is where I keep saying that this alliance was trying to see for J&K the new idea of India. You may not like it or agree with it, but there is a new idea of India which is emerging and this is one way of engaging with the new idea, to see how it can work. At the end we need to find ways and means of engagement.

Many people raise apprehension that there are no signatures on PDP-BJP’s Agenda of Alliance.

It is a juvenile argument to make. The chief minister and his deputy, released AoA in presence of BJP general secretary. Prime Minister has approved the paper and you are looking for signatures. It is juvenile.

Is Cross LoC trade still a viable confidence building measure?

Nothing has happened after Mufti sahab left the first term. I had worked out a formula about how the trade can be monetized and J&K bank can act as a banker. We had to open vostro nostro accounts. I had submitted the proposal to then PM, FM and CM. I think it should be taken to next level. We are working on its revival.

How do you see the performance of J&K bank as leading financial institution of the stat?

Not too good. Non Performing Assets are much higher. I think there is a serious concern on level of NPAs in the bank. It has reached to 6 percent. It was only 0.9 percent when I left. I think 2 percent gross NPA and net NPA was almost 0 percent. Today we are talking about 4 to 4.5 percent. That is a concern. I think strengthening the board is best thing to do and ensure quality of credit is better so that the system is strengthened.

There are allegations that you have managed to get in a lot of people from your constituency in J&K bank’s latest batch of relationship executives?

The results of written have come out and interviews have not been held yet. I haven’t had a word with chairman of the bank on this. It is all nonsense. And if people of Pulwama are more intelligent, how can you take away it from them. Tata Consultancy Servicesconducted the examination. How is it possible to fudge that? May be it is a mistake you might be talking about previous finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather. He had appointed a lot of adhoc employees in J&K bank from his constituency.

First of all it is meant for the state. Regional balance is important. This is perhaps the first time we have ensured that there is equitable distribution. In this package Rs 32,000 crore are for Valley, Rs 31,000 crore for Jammu. It wasn’t designed that way it has turned out this way. And around Rs 20,000 crore is meant for pan provinces, which affects everything. I think the entire package has been designed in a particular manner, which will allow growth spread across the province. Today, you are classifying it into this, because you are seeing it through BJP vs PDP thing. I think that is a bit of fallacious argument to make.

Were some things dropped from the package at the last minute?

There were some things, which were dropped in the last minute, which we will try to get again. One of the things in Agenda of Alliance has been the transfer of power projects. There was an element in this package by the central government of Rs 5000 crore, given as grant to buy equity in these projects. That was not finally approved. I am sure there must have been some issues with it. At the level of very advanced discussions it was approved. Last minute there were some changes in the design of the package, which we were not taken on board for. We will ensure this happens sooner than later.

This package includes a number of projects and plans already floated by the earlier governments.

There were number of schemes announced without budgetary approval. We had broken this package into four parts. First part was that what could be done where the funds have lapsed. So, we said revalidate that. Second, we said what could be done within the existing budget lines of the ministries. Third we clarified what needs fresh allocation. Fourth category was where announcements have been made but no money was provided.

Biggest challenge in this package was that we worked out financing of every single project. Omar Abdullah may have announced something. Where was the funding for that? He has a track record of inaugurating schools that didn’t exist. But the fact of the matter is that today if Zojila Tunnel had been done under this package, there is a funding tied to it, which ministry will do it and how much will be spend.

We have in the package specified, existing budget line and funds coming under the package. We have a signed document regarding this package, which details about everything.

There are lot of complaints of corruption and non-payments in flood relief distribution. Is government doing anything for this?

Now that the money has come we are distributing it in the course of this month or so. Also issue is that it is not so much about money but our delivery mechanism. We are getting stuck at Tehsildar level or at DC level. I think that needs to be altered. So, we are looking at a different delivery mechanism. We will ensure that whole money is transferred to bank accounts in one go as we have already identified and certified people. So, there is no intermediary. A lot of complaints have come to me as well about corruption in this process, which is unfortunately is bane of our existence.

A lot of people have expressed concerns as you have scheduled the budget in January, a month before Union budget is presented?

There are two messages in this whole shift. One is that it shows and acknowledges that the dependence of state budget on the central budget has come down dramatically post the 14th commission award. And now if you have read the recent news, what I had done in the last budget is being followed all across the country. I know what my five years budget is going to be. It has given that to me. Now there is no discussion to be held with Niti Ayog. I can decide my own plan. More critically what I want to do is that if I present the budget in January, by March, I want to close all that is required for financial management. So, that the departments can start tendering on March 1 and work on ground can start from April 1. Otherwise it used to start somewhere in July or August and we had limited time to work. But in terms of system building, if you start working in January the absorptive capacity of the government, will improve. You will be able to utilize more money. Today, we have got Rs 6000 crores of centrally sponsored schemes but we don’t absorb more than Rs 3000 crores. The key is to get more time and I don’t see any apprehension in this.

Also, the cabinet has approved that we would do a one-month session in August next year in Srinagar, where I will present economic survey, where I can capture data till the month of march of the same year. Secondly, I will do review of the budget. I will see some estimates may have gone wrong, so I will do a course correction. I am making it much more transparent and much more engaging.

How did you go about while drafting Agenda of Alliance along with Ram Madhav?

My engagement with BJP was track II initially. We hadn’t started any track I. Then once track II would open up some things, there was plan that some group will look at it. But track II took so much time and flexed it out so much that track II merged into track I at some point. Track II then turned out to be the one-point contact.

PDP parliamentarian Muzaffar Baig claims to have drafted the first document exploring the alliance with BJP. Did you consult it for AoA?

I haven’t had a look at Mr Baig’s document. If he has given it to Mufti sahab, he might be knowing about it.

Two parliamentarians of PDP are consistently opposing almost everything what PDP does and say. How do you see it?

They are very senior people, politicians in their own right. They are founder members of PDP. They have concerns and it should be discussed. I don’t see it as party thing. It is an opinion. It is for the president of party to decide, how to engage.