BUSINESS MONITOR
Federal Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari’s recent letter to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan asking him to intervene and stop highway harassment of truck drivers in the state’s jurisdiction elicited much excitement.
The dynamic minister was writing such a missive after hearing a litany of complaints from a group of transporters he met a few hours ago about such behaviour of the Madhya Pradesh government’s transport department officials.
There is no need for such an act of song and dance. This is not the first time and will not be the last attempt by the Federal government to sound alarms of this nature. Gadkari himself has done it in the past. Significantly, Gadkari and Chauhan belong to the same political outfit that runs the Federal government from Delhi and the State of Madhya Pradesh.
Not unique to MP
Such harassment is not confined to Madhya Pradesh alone. These types of highway highhandedness are rampant across all states in India. The contention is that the situation on the ground would be better if the same political party ran both at the Centre and State. Bunkum.
For instance, the car carrier association representing thousands of fleet owners servicing the auto OEMs to distribute fresh mint vehicles from manufacturing plants in various parts of India to the dealer points faced a major challenge while crossing the State of Rajasthan in 2016. These vehicles were heavily challaned for no rhyme or reason, forcing the Association to park hundreds of loaded vehicles on the side of the Gujarat-Rajasthan check-post at Rattanpur, inside Rajasthan, for more than a week.
The Bharatiya Janata Party ruled Rajasthan under the chief ministership of Vasundhara Raje Scindia, and the same Gadkari held the same portfolio in the Central government. How the dispute was resolved is still a mystery! Transport is on the concurrent list under the Indian Constitution, whereby the central government is vested with formulating policy and requisite legal framework. However, the rollout or implementation is in the hands of the respective states.
Just an advice?
At the maximum, Gadkari has “advised” the states. Beyond that, he is helpless and powerless. So, the logic of the same political party ruling at the Center and states would fetch justice is asking for too much. More importantly, transport is a milch cow for states. Under various heads, they tax them to pad up their khazana (treasury). Every year, the state government fixes a quota of money to be earned. Yes, a target is fixed and collected vigorously.
Corrupt officials go beyond meeting their targets, pocket the excess, and allegedly share the loot with higher-ups. It is no secret that political masters “seek” transporters’ financial assistance to fight the costly elections to occupy the hot seat. There is a nexus between them. Yet, corruption has not evaporated. “It is in the blood,” remarks Sukarm Marwah, former Additional Director General in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways at the Centre.
In August 2019, this writer was part of a sit-in demonstration against such corruption at the Gujarat-Rajasthan Integrated Checkpost. Significantly, a BJP MLA was part of this public demonstration, and the ruling party in Madhya Pradesh was the Indian National Congress under the chief ministership of Kamal Nath, erstwhile Transport Minister at the Center a decade ago. In 2019, BJP was the ruling party at the Center.
The history
Soon BJP wrested power from the Congress, and there were many protests against alleged highway corruption in Madhya Pradesh. The BJP MLA quietly vanished and became unapproachable. Corruption is universal and political parties are no different and turn a blind eye to the shenanigans on highways.
The outspoken Gadkari has repeatedly lambasted the Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) for highway corruption but could do nothing beyond thundering to tame them. Have these highway vultures been tamed? Not at all. They are “untamable” and unextinguishable.
Not that one wishes Gadkari to fail. He has to succeed. When is the question? Perhaps the Madhya Pradesh government may try to stop the harassment of truckers while they pass through its territory. Will such an act be forever? Or temporary? Whatever is attempted should be a long-lasting drive to end these malpractices, not a patchwork or bandaging wound for a temporary PR stunt by the political masters in Madhya Pradesh.
Ankur Kumar, E&Y has a pertinent point to make: “This (corruption) was one of the reasons that LEADS 2021 (Logistics Ease Across States) Ranking of the State (of Madhya Pradesh) declined by a whopping seven places from the previous edition.” According to him, this issue was brought to the notice of the State in the LEADS 2021 report. The true picture can only be presented to the State; the State/UT may or may not want to acknowledge it, he concludes.
The modus operandi
Mumbai-based Kuldeep Singh Virdi, Co-Founder & Director, Natraj Roadways, throws some light on the modus operandi: “Local people who are hired by officers at the check posts of all borders of MP state are fearless, and with their full voice, they are asking drivers to pay the amount that we are asking or stay for how long they want. For 40ft trailer with normal and underload cargo at the MP border, the entry fee is Rs.2,500, and an exit fee is Rs.1,500-2,500. We raised complaints and even called anti-corruption officials, but nothing happened.”
Nonetheless, Virdi is hopeful that such practices will surely end. We will find the way. Indore-based third-generation transporter Dheeraj Fatehchandani adds: “It is a problem we have been facing for decades. Let’s see how the Government of Madhya Pradesh handles it after receiving this letter.”
“The cherished objective of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari is to have a corruption-free India and to usher into a seamless movement of trucks has been squarely turned to dust in MP,” laments All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) President Kultaran Singh Atwal.
The transport fraternity feels let down badly. Atwal terms Gadkari’s letter to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister as “ostentatious and a PR stunt at best”. He adds that the central government’s advisory to Madhya Pradesh, among other states in the past, is futile.
A question to ask
Veteran transport consultant Arun Lakshman says, “People will never stop violating norms, thus will keep giving bribe, resulting in the corrupt system. That’s how it would have started.”
Transtopics Editor Girish Mirchandani raises a pertinent question: “With Gadkari being bold enough to write to the MP Chief Minister, pulling him up for corruption & harassment at the borders, what is in store for the transport industry? Will things change – for the better?”
There are no answers except hoping for the best.
Will the latest letter bomb from Gadkari’s Parliament Street office usher in a transformation in the corridors of power in Bhopal? Will Chauhan heed Gadkari’s request to tame the rent-seeking elements among his bureaucratic rank and file and prove that the past behaviour of extortion on highways will not be repeated? Tough ask.
But what is wrong with desiring a positive outcome? To dream is everyone’s birth right. Right?
[Main Image by R Sen from Pixabay has been used for illustrative purposes only]
Also by the same author: Why ‘respect’ eludes truck drivers? ’Tis no secret they never get the regard they deserve – THE NEWS PORTER
The author is a seasoned business and economic journalist. He can be reached at konsultramesh@gmail.com. In this column, ‘Business Monitor’, he presents a global perspective on happenings in the world of business, commerce, economics and trade. The views are the author’s own and The News Porter bears no responsibility for the same.
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