Editorial: Nothing ‘Anti-Bihar’ about it!
…what Chouhan perhaps meant by his assurance to youth of the state was that they don’t fall prey to bargaining tactics of anybody from outside. They could offer his services at a lower compensation to shun unemployment. Every candidate – local or outsider – should compete for the job purely on the basis of laboriousness rather than tactical lower labour cost…
The media sometimes takes responsible people’s words terribly out of context, what recently happened with MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Satna is a case in point.
Chouhan, with a positive demeanor and a kurta-clean image, has no history of controversy, his statement in Satna was one that attempted to assure the unemployed youth in the state with a promise of future employment, a pipe-dream that more often than not has remained just that.
His effort, however, failed to enthuse those with an axe to grind and his words were soon impregnated with greater meaning and consequence. Political opponents used the opportunity to target Chouhan, undoubtedly, the most prolific Chief Minister the state has seen in a while.
The statements were dubbed “anti Bihar”, for which a Patna-based lawyer Murad Ali even filed a plea in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Bettiah against Chouhan. Acting on it, the court has ordered the town police station to file a case against him.
Which chief minister would not attend to the growing unemployment among youth of the state? The filing of the case is very unfortunate because neither the remarks by Chouhan nor the issue of locals getting priority in jobs at home has been fully taken into account.
What Chouhan perhaps meant by his assurance to youth of the state was that they don’t fall prey to bargaining tactics of anybody from outside. They could offer his services at a lower compensation to steer clear of unemployment.
The reason is very simple. If state government is providing sop for establishment of new industrial units, it would like that workers get their market (not merely legal minimum) pay and every candidate – local or outsider – competes for the job purely on the basis of laboriousness rather than tactical lower labour cost.
The reaction from Bihari leaders and people is more unfortunate. Madhya Pradesh has a considerable task force coming from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, think of BHEL, for instance. People from any part of the country live respectable and peaceful life here; people in MP treat them as those among themselves.
The argument that every Indian has a constitutional right to work at any place in the country is well taken, but it cannot be used to create a breed of work force that is engulfing certain jobs in the country and has thus almost made a parallel law in practical sense of term that work force in those jobs will come only from North India.
