Vasundhara Raje govt adopts wait-and-watch policy in crises

There was jubilation all around as the farmers’ satyagrah in Nindar came to an end. The Rajasthan government is busy patting itself on the back after it managed to get the farmers, on an agitation for nearly a month, out of the pits and into their homes.

Assurances offered by the state included re-conducting a survey and no demolitions till then, which could have been offered much earlier. However, the issue was allowed to linger in indecisiveness and fester. The opposition had a field day while the government machinery was in inertia.

The recently-concluded farmers’ agitation is just another example of the Rajasthan’s governent’s incapacit to handle crises. A committee to look into the demands was announced almost a fortnight after the farmers held the public and government to ransom.

It was no different than the government’s predicament in the case of gangster Chatar Singh’s killing in Jaisalmer. Protests and rallies were held by dozens before the government accepted the demand of a CBI inquiry.  

The Raje government of Rajasthan has time and again proved that it has a poor crisis response. Issues  are allowed to escalate.

According to Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria, “We cannot act arbitrarily and in haste. A situation is accessed from all aspects before the government reacts or takes decisions.”     

But political observers attribute this to several reasons; the wait and watch policy of the government, over-dependence on bureaucracy and more importantly, absence of a core team to deal with such situations.

As per a senior minister, “We have been found lacking in dealing with most difficult situations. What makes matters worse is that there is simply no damage control. There is no forum to discuss openly and offer solutions.”      

This scenario in the year prior to elections spells trouble for the Raje government.