Rahul Gandhi speaks to the press in Bhubaneshwar:

Camp: Bhubaneshwar (Orissa)
Date: 10th March 2008

Speaking at a press conference in Bhubaneshwar, marking the end of his 4 day tour to Orissa, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi began by giving journalists a brief overview of his trip. “It was my first, relatively long tour of Orissa. This 3-4 day trip is the longest I have done in this state. I was actually quite surprised at how disconnected some parts of Orissa are from other parts. Quite surprised at how poor certain parts of Orissa are, in particular how poor certain communities in Orissa are and how disenfranchised they are. I looked at a number of villages. I had relatively close interactions with people and this was uniformly across the board. There is tremendous hardship and poverty here. “



Rahul Gandhi went on to say, “I don’t think Orissa per say is a poor state. There are other states which are poorer. The problem here is delivery and distribution of services to the poor people. And I think central to that problem is the problem you raised. That of resources! And how those resources are used and to whose benefit those resources are used. And what happens to those people who are displaced when those resources are used.”

Answering a question on the falling standards of hockey as a game in India Rahul Gandhi said, “I had visited a tribal academy for hockey players here. One of their biggest complains is that the selection process is unfair. The players who are actually good don’t get access to facilities’, don’t get access to the team. So I think if the pool of resources is wider, if the base of training is wider, things will improve. I don’t think it is specifically one sport, I think it is across the board. Cricket is slightly different because now there is a lot of money involved in cricket. So there things have changed. There is a broadening of talent, of the selection process. Other games are eclipsed by cricket”.

When asked if the implementation of NREGA in Congress ruled states was worse than in states with non congress governments Rahul Gandhi said, “ NREGA is a revolutionary program. Unlike Indira Awaas which just gives people the opportunity to work, NREGA gives people the right to work. I don’t agree that Congress ruled states are worse than non congress ruled states in terms of the implementation of NREGA. I work in U.P, and there is no delivery, whatsoever, of NREGA there. In parts of Orissa I visited there is no delivery, whatsoever of NREGA, at least the portions I visited. I asked people if they had heard about NREGA. A number of people had heard about it, but how many people were given jobs as a result of NREGA. The result was zero, zero, zero all the time”, said an agitated Rahul Gandhi.

Quoting the example of successful implementation of NREGA in Congress ruled Andhra Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi said, “ Andhra Pradesh is by far the best performer as far as NREGA is concerned. I’ve seen the details of their program; I’ve seen how they look at the program. It is benefiting millions of people of Andhra Pradesh. “

“We, the young MP’s of the party went to see the Prime Minister to raise certain issues about the implementation and monitoring of NREGA. There are deficiencies in monitoring and implementation of the program that can be corrected. The meeting with the Prime Minister was quite useful and he said that he would look into it”.

“Another thing I sensed about Orissa is that a lot of the development work done is relatively adhoc. You know you do something here, and you do something elsewhere. To me there seems to be a lack of coherent strategy. Orissa has a lot of natural resources. It’s one of the riches states with regard to natural resources. The way these natural resources are being used could be improved significantly.”

“ I’m not the state government of Orissa, so that poses relatively a big problem. Even though the central government can support Orissa, and it does support Orissa through various programs and funding, in large ways the distribution of those funds, the implementation of those programs is up to the government of Orissa. So that’s a significant problem in addressing the issues of Orissa. I will however have a lot to say to the people at the centre about my views. About what is happening here. Of how the centre can help”.



“ The term Bharat Darshan is a phrase coined by my friends in the media, not by myself. To me the Orissa tour and all such other tours are a journey in understanding and getting close to the people. I don’t think the terminology that is being used in the media is correct. So “The discovery of India tour”, I don’t see it as that for me. It is just learning, understanding and conversing with the people of Orissa. It will continue doing it for the rest of my life. “

When asked for his views on the Marathi, non Marathi controversy in Maharasthra , Rahul Gandhi said, “ We as a party believe that all Indian’s rich or poor are same. He is first an Indian. So every Indian has a right to travel to any other part of the country.”

“ We can sit around here and blame the British, blame the congress, blame somebody else. I am not here to blame anybody. What I am trying to say here is that there are certain issues that need to be resolved, whoever resolves them. The state government today is in the best position to resolve those issues. I think there is lot of work that has to be done here. There is lot of work that the state government has to do here and there is lot of work that the central government can help with. So I am not here to say, xyz is to blame for this situation. That’s for other people to do. I am here to try and see what the central government can do to help Orissa and urge the state government to do it’s bit as well.”

“The central government can provide funds, central government can provide programs. The Orissa government has to deliver those funds and has to deliver those programs. According to the constitution the central government does not have jurisdiction in certain areas which the state government has. “

In the end, on being asked if the failure of delivery system bothered him, considering that his father Rajiv Gandhi too had faced a similar problem Rahul Gandhi said that if it did he wouldn’t be here.