‘It’s important for the ruling coalition to have a majority,but the numbers are not all that important’

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: If you have a will,I am sure you can show results. If our aim is to do correct things with result-oriented activities and the cooperation of the people,then the result will be there.

Manoj C G: One thing that is always said about Kerala is that it has a high degree of militant labour activity. Whenever Congress is in power,the CPI(M) organises hartals,bandhs. So,how do you plan to change that?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: The attitudes of workers and their leaders have changed. In Kerala,we have a problem called nokkukooli,where workers take wages without doing any work. All political parties and all trade unions oppose this nokkukooli. Even then,the practice is prevalent. That is in very bad taste,we have to change that. But in many other ways,the workers and the trade union leaders have become very practical. Look at the labour statistics: the loss of man-days due to strikes by workers is very low in Kerala. There may be other reasons for the loss of man-days—financial reasons or the management’s faults. Many units have closed down in Kerala but very few due to a strike by the workers. So the workers’ issue is not the problem in Kerala,it is not an obstacle to the development of Kerala. There are other reasons.

Shekhar Gupta: What are the other reasons?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: In Kerala,there are controversies everywhere. One controversy leads to another and then,everything gets blocked. Too much of politics in everything also creates a big problem for Kerala. We have to break that. We have to change the mindset. Labour is not the issue and money is not a problem for the development of Kerala. Once,workers were the obstacle and then a lack of funds became the main reason. Now it is a lack of will and the tendency to create controversies that is our problem .

Coomi Kapoor: Your government came to power with a very narrow majority and you are dependent on two other parties,strongholds of the minorities. In the budget,a lot of sops have been given to these minority communities. Is this good in the long run for the social harmony of the state?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: That is not at all correct. In Kerala,we give equal treatment to all sections.

Coomi Kapoor: Malabar and Central Travancore have got a lot of sops in the budget.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: There were reports to that effect but it is not correct. We want to do justice to all sections. If you examine the government’s decisions over the last four months,all sections have got social justice. The Nair Service Society is one of the main organisations representing the Nair community,the SNDP represents the largest community,the Ezhavas. Both organisations have welcomed many decisions of this government.

K G Narendranath: What,according to you,should be the right development model for Kerala?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: Tourism,IT,high-quality education,ayurveda—these are the main areas where Kerala can show results. Kerala’s situation is very different from that of other states: a lot of land is not available,polluting industries are not acceptable to the general public. But this type of development is necessary. So we must have a practical approach. I have already said that finance is not a problem for the development of Kerala but government funds are not enough for this purpose: out of the total income at our disposal,more than 85 per cent goes towards salary,pension and interests on loans. This expenditure is always increasing. So,10-15 per cent is the amount the government is left with. So with government funds,we cannot do much. We have to utilise other resources. These include private investment,NRI investment and investment through international funding agencies. The central government has also declared many popular schemes. The CPI(M) was always opposed to World Bank loans,ADB loans and private investment,but now they have changed. During their government,they took an ADB loan,they applied for a World Bank loan. We have an open mind.

Muzamil Jaleel: Young Muslim men from Kerala are being identified with different terror groups. What is the reason for this and what is the government doing about it?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: It is very disturbing that some youngsters are getting involved in such activities and becoming followers of some extremist groups. As you know,the Muslim League is very strong in Kerala. They have done a lot in the past to keep youngsters away from these types of groups. But some sections work to convince youngsters to take to terror activities. There is general opposition to this kind of activity in the Muslim community. It is good that the community is trying to disassociate itself from all these activities. We have to take very strong action against these people. I am fully satisfied with the community’s response.

Muzamil Jaleel: Have you tried to understand why they are getting involved with terror groups?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: Some failures exist at the official level. These groups had conducted a camp,they had conducted many experiments in that camp. Even then,the authorities did not know anything about it. It was only after the incident in Kashmir in 2008,when four youths from Kerala were killed by security forces while trying to cross the LoC,that officials (in Kerala) learnt about what was going on. That is a failure,but now,the situation has changed.

Rakesh Sinha: How much of a hurdle is the factionalism within the Congress?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: Differences of opinion have always been there in the Congress because the Congress is a democratic party. We have differences of opinion but there are no group fights. That has been the big change (in the party) in the last few years. We want to keep it that way. I take everyone into confidence—all sections of the party. I will continue that style of functioning. If I adopt a very arrogant attitude,then the situation will be different. I am here in this position with the party’s help—by party,I mean the lakhs of people who work for the party.

Manoj C G: You just said the Muslim League played a major role in keeping extremists at bay. But a recent WikiLeaks disclosure showed that one of the senior Muslim League leaders,now a minister in your Cabinet,had promoted the right-wing Muslim organisation,National Development Fund (NDF),which is now the Popular Front of India. How do you react to that?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: Who do you mean?

Manoj C G: P K Kunhalikutty.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: The minister has denied it.

Manoj C G: Are you accepting his denial?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: Yes,without doubt. Kunhalikutty has been active in politics for so many years. Nobody can say that he would have such an attitude. He has been a public leader for many years. I have had a close association with him.

Charmy Harikrishnan: How difficult is it to lead a coalition with such a thin majority? Do you think allies have the upper hand?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: In a democratic set-up,having a majority is the most important thing. Without a majority,nobody can come to power. Majority is a must,but the numbers are not all that important. In Kerala,the largest majority was for EMS Namboodiripad who got 117 seats out of 133 in 1967. That ministry could only complete three years. In 1977,UDF got the largest majority in its history—111 out of 140. That government was also only in power for two-and-a-half years. But in 1970,the Achutha Menon ministry only had a majority of two seats. That government completed its whole term and got an extension because of Emergency. So,the number is not a criterion for these things; it’s the attitude of the ruling party and their will to work that is important. We have to take a very careful approach when the majority is thin,we have to take special care. But for results,for the functioning of the government,the numbers do not matter.

Charmy Harikrishnan: How did you deal with the situation after the Muslim League unilaterally announced at a press conference that there would be five of their nominees in the government (as against the four allotted to the party as part of the UDF formula)?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: The Muslim League has not given up that demand. Their demand is still there,but the UDF has not taken a decision.

*Ardhara S: A recent report said that while the national crime rate against women had increased by 46 per cent between 1995 and 2005,in Kerala,there was a 100 per cent increase even though you have the highest literacy rates and the best social indicators. What is your government doing about it?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: The question is very pertinent. Kerala has a good showing in all the social parameters—education,education of women,etc—but in the last few years,the news that has been coming in is very alarming and very disappointing. So now,the government has constituted a committee with (activist) Sugathakumari as chairperson. Other members include retired IAS officer Lida Jacob,Mallika Sarabhai from Ahmedabad,Sunitha Krishnan from Hyderabad. Our Social Welfare Secretary,Sarada Muraleedharan,will be the secretary of the committee. Some of the incidents are very unfortunate. They are a blot on Kerala. We have to take legal steps but apart from that,we must create social consciousness against this.

Raj Kamal Jha: You were the first one to webcast your room on the Net. Anyone can go and see the room where you work,your office. Why did you do it,who told you about it?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: I had put up a web camera even in 2004-5,the last time I was chief minister. It’s just that I have got public attention now. I don’t claim that putting a web camera in office is everything—it is only a message that I want to do everything in the open,that I have nothing to hide. My camera is always on. In my office,there is not much security so anybody can walk in. Once,a person with some mental problems entered my room while I was in the Cabinet room. He sat down on my seat. People in my office only found out about it when a call came from Dubai and the caller wanted to know who was sitting on my chair.

Coomi Kapoor: Very poor security!

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: Yes,but it was not the fault of the police. The fault lies with me. If I had insisted that I must have full security,the poor would not come there. This was just one stray incident. But it is only meant to send out the message that I have nothing to hide.

Raj Kamal Jha: So,did you ask your other ministers to do the same thing?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: They are also coming round to my way of thinking. There’s one more thing I want to say. There is a case against me in the palmolein case. That was in 1991. In the last 20 years,nobody accused me of anything. They were all against Karunakaran. After Karunakaran’s death,there were elections round the corner so the CPI(M) tried to corner me. When they came to power,they ordered an inquiry. Now the case has come and the court has asked the vigilance department to inquire into the case. Immediately,on the same day,I relinquished the charge of the vigilance department. The case is conducted by a Special Prosecutor appointed by the CPI(M). I told the public,‘I will not change him. I have nothing to hide. Anybody can argue for me,anybody can be the advocate.’

Coomi Kapoor: What security measures are you taking at the Padmanabhaswamy temple? People say that a lot of the valuables are actually being taken out by the priests.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: No,not at all. Recently,the Supreme Court had expressed satisfaction at the government’s security arrangements. There are valuable things there. I believe they belong to the temple,so the government wants to keep them in the temple but the final word comes from the Supreme Court. We have already deputed 233 policemen under a Superintendent of Police to guard the temple and we have placed security cameras around the temple.

*Srinath Rao: What do you think of the Kochi team’s expulsion from the IPL? Do you think Kerala should be represented in the league?

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy: Everybody is unhappy with the decision. But we cannot interfere with an organisation’s internal matter. The people of Kerala are not happy about that decision. Cricket is important to youngsters nowadays. They were all very happy that IPL was coming to Kochi. Then this happened. But there is very little space for the government to interfere.

Transcribed by Deepu Sebastian Edmond

* Students of Express Institute of Media Studies