This forces us to go for schemes like Mukhya Mantri Annapoorna Yojna and Mukhya Mantri Khetihar Mazdoor Suraksha Yojna. They should not be equated with the populist schemes of similar nature once undertaken in Southern states. Our critics say that it is an election year. But is this not the very year that most exposed the inefficiencies of the Centre? Have we not been pressured to come to this stage owing to a GOI-induced drastic cut in the quota of our fair price shops? In spite of the recommendations of the Krishak Ayog, the Centre did not reduce interest rates for farmers but we in MP brought it down to 5 per cent from a high of 14 per cent.

The claims of the common man can no longer be ignored—not only in respect of food entitlement, but in all aspects of governance. I have invited panchayats of different segments to design programmes off-site. This is my way of saying, “people first”. To my critics, this is an attempt at social catharsis, but giving a cordless mike to the aam aadmi connects his cords directly to me. The ‘decentralisation’ of the erstwhile Congress government in MP could not demolish the “culture of silence”, where the gram sabhas very often meekly reflect and adjust the demands of the local power structure. The very presence of a CM emboldens the “lay people” in jandarshan and panchayats to expose the cosmetics of administration. You cannot stage-manage a social audit of this type. Regis Debray in his Critique of Political Reason said, “There are really no open societies because enclosure is the basic category of the political world.” I have sincerely tried to quarrel with this impression of politicians throughout my stint as Chief Minister.

... contd.