Ranjeet Ranjan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ranjeet Ranjan
Image:Ranjeet Ranjan.jpg
MP
Constituency	Saharsa

Born	7 January 1974 (1974-01-07) (age 34) Riva, Bihar
Political party	Lok Janshakti Party
Spouse	Rajesh Ranjan
Children	1 son and 1 daughter
Residence	Purnia
As of September 26, 2006 Source: [1]

Smt Ranjeet Ranjan (born 7 January 1974) is a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. She represents the Saharsa constituency of Bihar and is a member of the Lok Janshakti Party political party.

Ranjeet Ranjan, a Kashmiri Pundit and a sports woman, is one of the youngest members of Parliament from one of the least enviable Indian constituency of Saharsa, Bihar, close to the Nepal border. This land, on the banks of the Kosi river, is fertile but prone to annual flooding that has led to soil erosion and is the major reason for poor connectivity of the area as bridges get washed away. Her people are among the poorest in the country facing problems of infrastructure, power, health and education besides major corruption.

Taking up their cause, Ranjeet Ranjan has raised the maximum number of questions in Parliament. She believes politics translates to social work. She is eager to introduce much needed changes through ICT in her constituency. In an interview with Mercuryash…

What is your most memorable moment as MP?

Until I contested the elections for the first time in 2004, my only experience in politics was limited to occasional visits to my husband’s constituency. I would tell them I want to become a MP, not make contractual deals, but to take up a mission for the people. The people elected me and I entered the house. My most memorable moment was when I was taking the oath as an MP. That was an emotional moment when I felt here was my opportunity to really do something for my country. I felt I was on the stage of the world’s largest democracy. In this position, I have the opportunity to work for the people, to fight corruption and unemployment and to better the lives of the people. I must not fail them.

What is your mission as MP?

For me, politics translates to social work. That is my mission as long as I am an MP.

What are your primary concerns for your constituency?

Our people are poor. They have to face all the problems of poverty plus corruption in daily life. I must fight to bend the chain of corruption that starts from the top to the gram panchayat. For instance, we have a lot of projects and schemes for rural development from the government. But people are not aware of these projects. Officials and panchayati officers do not tell the people about these welfare projects. The poor people are not aware of more than 50 per cent of the schemes. The schemes do not reach the people for whom they are meant.

For instance, the government has a scheme whereby a pregnant woman is to be paid Rs. 1400 if she gets the delivery done in a government health centre. For them, this is a big amount. More than 50 per cent of the women do not know this.

I have therefore said stop! We do not want any new yojanas or schemes, we first want to reach what we have to the people. One of my missions is to help the people become aware of all the government welfare projects and schemes that can benefit them. So, whenever I hold a meeting I try to make the people aware of their rights.

Even if we can reach 80 per cent of the rupee allotted in our schemes to the farmers, no one will sleep hungry. But it is the other way round. The government brings out a project. The project cost is estimated by government bodies and implemented through the government agencies. But everybody has a percentage stake in the project. Accordingly, if the project is estimated at Rs. 12 lakh, then it is actually worth only Rs. 4 lakh. We need a law which allows a certain percentage of bribery and corruption. In Bihar at least, nearly 70 per cent fizzles out in corruption.

What have you done to meet these challenges? What are your achievements?

In my constituency, I have achieved rail connectivity for my people. When I became MP, there was no broad gauge rail line. People had to travel a distance of 12-15 kilometres by narrow gauge rail train and then change three trains to reach Patna in two to three days from where they could take a train to Delhi or any major city. Today, my people can travel to Patna, Punjab or Calcutta directly instead of changing trains from the narrow gauge to the broad gauge. We have already introduced seven to eight trains and are planning a double railway line for greater connectivity.

Also, there was just one narrow gauge railway line in an area of about 7.5 km. Since independence, the people here have not seen a road. The rail line did not help the people as all the milkmen, vegetable vendors would stop the train to get in and get off to go short distances. We did a dharna and requested the railway minister to make that rail line into a road. That is going to be done. It is a Rs. 54 crore project and probably Mr Raghuvansh Prasad, minister for rural development will soon inaugurate it. People will see a road and crime will lessen.

Another problem is the flooding. About 50 years ago, embankments were constructed on the river bed to confine the course of the Kosi river. There are two baandhs of 110 km each, totally 220 km. Both baandhs are attached. My constituency lies on the east side. About four lakh to five lakh people live between these two structures. About 45 years ago, Jawaharlal Nehru sanctioned these embankments. But till date, these baandhs have not been widened, made pucca nor has its height been increased. It was used as a road earlier but today it is useless. People live on the river bed, trapped within the two embankments, and every year their villages get flooded.

I got the old files out, spoke to the chief minister and have urged the state government to start the work to repair the baandhs. The work has started.

Also, in our area, there are plenty of TB patients. Although the disease is curable with regular medication over a few months, awareness among the people is less. I raised questions in parliament and interacted with the Health minister for introducing DOTS, the most cost effective strategy for combating TB, not only in my constituency but in the entire Kosi area. And now DOTS is present in seven t0 eight districts.

Are you doing anything for education? The education level in your constituency is below the national average, A high rate of school dropouts correlates with the high rate of crime. Have you considered using ICT for education or vocational training?

They say Bihar’s education system is behind other states by 15 years. I say, if the current changes to Bihar’s education system are implemented, within five years Bihar will soon be 30 years behind. The current CM, in an effort to fill vacant seats, enabled anybody with a degree to become a teacher. There were no tests conducted. Nearly 70 per cent of these people have become teachers with fake degrees.

On my visit to primary and secondary schools, I saw students of 6th, 7th and 8th class copy the questions instead of writing the answers to the question. Very slowly. They did not know anything. I met their parents who said teachers do not know how to sign, how will they teach? Students are charged Rs. 5 for notebooks that cost Rs. 2. This is the situation. After we created a ruckus, they are going to conduct a test. Either way, the CM is stuck. If there is a test, their job will go. Unemployment high. Education is a big problem area. The students either get out of Bihar or take up crime or farming. How can I change this situation as an MP? I cannot make or change the rules. My purpose is to help the people and bring all the prevailing corruption to light. I am using all my powers to do so. I am prepared to try ICT for education.

What are some of the projects on which you have spent from your MPLAD funds?

My MPLADS funds are like a cumin seed in the mouth of a camel. (Unth ke moonh mein jeera). My purpose was to first make a good road but I found that to make half a kilometre of road, would cost Rs. 2 crore and that would be the end of the fund for one year. Therefore I target small hamlets occupied by 200 people where I have used my MP funds to fill up ditches and potholes to give them some road of half a kilometre or two kilometres.

I have also used the funds to provide them community halls for marriages and functions; to provide hand pumps, sodium vapour lamps and solar light pillars for inside the baandh area where there is no light. Most primary schools within the embankments do not even have roofs. I have got ruined school buildings repaired, where children in schools and madarsas would study outside. I have given a laboratory for a district collage, a hall for college cultural programmes. I have also funded two bridges covering a population of 50,000 people, which took up about Rs. 50 to Rs 60 lakh. There was a shortfall of 12 kilometres which I financed through my MPLAD funds.

Where do you want to see your constituency by the end of your term?

Bihar has a lot of problems, In my constituency, with 450 revenue villages, the major problem areas are health, education, infrastructure and corruption. To resolve them will take a lot of time.

Power, water and roads are the main demands. If these things are taken care of, we do not need politicians. I have concentrated on rail and roads. Rail has been my biggest achievement. Today, the rate of bricks and cement rate in my constituency is the same as in Patna. Business has benefited and so has the labour class. Roads are also important as it is fertile land and our harvest needs to reach the market. As there are no roads, the farmers do not get a good price for their perishable produce like bananas. Even rice and wheat do not sell well. We need to spend on roads.

The minister for rural development, Raghuvansh Prasadji has prepared a good scheme for roads under the Prime Minister’s sadak yojana. Roads are being linked up to the National HIghway but there is so much of corruption that the roads that are being made are low grade. Instead of six inches (152 mm) , they are putting in two inches and giving the project for implementation to the same blacklisted contractors. After six months, the roads will be back to square one and the same cry for good roads will go up yet again.

We have demanded that the contractors be blacklisted. But the problem is that the centre launches the scheme and the funds are transferred from the centre to the state. We demanded that the project be implemented through a central agency to minimise the degree of corruption. The demand was accepted but then again the central agency gave out the project locally for implementation. The local agency does the work. So it came back to the blacklisted contractors. When we raise a voice against that, work stops. Some of the work is pending for five years. So we get disillusioned. If work is done honestly, we do not need more funds.

Work on bridges passing through my constituency that cost up to Rs. 2.5 crore is being implemented. But there is corruption. I sit with the DM, go for regular checks, but corruption is there. If your DM or the state government is not with you, what do you do?

Recently, the CM was to inaugurate some bridges. I pointed out that one rain and the bridges will be ruined. The CM set up an inquiry agency and the members of this agency went for lunch to the house of the blacklisted contractor who showed them another bridge and gave them a tour of Nepal and sent them home. How to fight? People say politicians do not do anything but I think our hands are tied. You raise the question with the DM, CM, even in parliament. In one question, I pointed out the corruption in the government hospitals. Even the speaker agreed but nothing is done.

Have you tried to use ICT for any development in your constituency, for education, telemedicine, livelihood etc?

My area is predominantly rural and in the interior. There is a population of about four to five lakhs. They have no power. There can be no power as it is a flooded area. So, how can we have computers? Every year there is heavy rain and flooding and people live in temporary shelters. Their main concern is food. They want tube wells for drinking water. We need to tackle their basic needs first.

But there is a certain population that can be linked to computers. In four or five places, we have installed computers that are used for email and information. We have information guides and we have told the people that they can access any information on rural development or otherwise. We have asked them to make a complaint if they are denied access to information. Even in our schools, colleges and madarsas, we have connectivity. I am eager to bring connectivity into the rural areas too but we need to first change the mentality. The basic needs have to be fulfilled before we can think higher.

Will you be interested in setting up a Village Resource Centre in your constituency?

Yes, I would be interested in using ICT for my people and if you can help me to set up a centre, provide the training for my people and show me the way, I would be interested in setting up an information centre for my people in my constituency and perhaps even in my husband’s constituency.

For instance, there is plenty of jute in our area. I am part of the Jute Technology Mission set up to increase jute productivity and employment. Once I was at a meeting at Maurya Hotel in Calcutta. I saw a jute coat and asked the price. It was Rs. 6000. I was shocked. Our farmers get only Rs. 120 per quintal of raw jute. Subsequently, in a meeting I pointed out that Purnea in Kosi is the largest mandi in Asia for jute and vegetables. We want the farmers to be able to sell the jute directly in that mandi. If a web portal can be enabled through ICT that would give the farmers an opportunity to make direct sales, cut off the middlemen, I would do everything I can to set it up. Help me to do this.

If you can speak to all the people in your constituency at one time, what would be your message?

Do not leave your studies. Do not run after politicians. Politicians want you to remain illiterate, turn to crime and then your life is destroyed and you become easier to control. But I say, do not leave your work and follow me chanting slogans. You run behind a politician, wanting to be seen, hoping that you will get some work, some commissions will come your way. But that won’t work with me. I cannot throw government money at you. I cannot be party to black money and corruption. We have to fight these together. One way to do this is education. So, do not leave your studies.