How are you dealing with the migrant crisis?
The migrants returned because they trusted Nitish Kumar. The infrastructure he has created since 2005 has given them confidence. It was on his insistence that trains were started and migrants were brought back. Till now, more than 19 lakh people have come back by trains. We have done everything for their social and economic security. Most migrants were dalits and from the most backward classes. They had left the state owing to the conditions in the past. As good governance changed Bihar, they decided to return. Nitish Kumar is the first chief minister in the country to speak to migrants housed in quarantine centres through videoconferencing.
If you look at the state’s panchayat raj system, which has been strengthened, we have given reservations to women from the most backward classes and dalits. This empowered them and has dented the social base of the Naxal movement since 2006. When migrants from these castes wanted to return, they trusted the system as they came with their families. The empowerment of panchayat raj also ensured that there was no community spread.
How will you create livelihood for migrants?
Our growth rate in construction sector has been high. Till May 31, 4.37 lakh jobs have been created…. We did skill-mapping of migrants in quarantine centres. Unskilled labourers were given the option of working under MGNREGA. Those who can drive will get e-rickshaws under the existing scheme; similarly, for other trades. We are studying the economic package to see how it can be used to generate jobs. We have transferred Rs6,464 crore in cash to migrants, farmers, students and social scheme beneficiaries…. We have created a roadmap to provide jobs to all migrants.
There was criticism that the state was not doing enough testing.
What can be a bigger sign of efficiency than the fact that we mapped and screened 1,87,45,361 households, covering 10.4 crore residents. We have their details and signatures. So nearly 11 crore of the 12 crore population have been screened…. Earlier, we did not have many testing centres. We created 14, and now the chief minister has ordered that they be created in all districts. Our recovery rate is now 45 per cent.
Your opponents have accused Nitish Kumar of being insensitive to the crisis.
The entire country knows that he is a law-abiding individual. He followed the home ministry guidelines. You can call a person insensitive when he does not react or speak up, especially on the issue of disaster. Bihar did not have a law for disaster management, but our government made one. The chief minister has a track record of working systematically…. The migrants trusted him and returned. And no migrant has complained to me about hunger in the state. The chief minister has said that people affected by disasters have the first right to the state's treasury. We don’t need anyone’s certificate. Those who are making such allegations have been absent since lockdown. The leader of opposition has been missing since then.
Is your alliance with the BJP intact? Will Nitish Kumar be the chief ministerial candidate?
There is no debate on the alliance. Any counter talk is by those who are jealous. What can be a bigger pointer [to Nitish’s candidature] than the fact that in 2015 we got the mandate with the Grand Alliance, but when we left it on the issue of corruption and aligned with the BJP and the Lok Janshakti Party, there was no change in leadership.
What is the way forward?
It is also the responsibility of states where migrants go to work to take care of them. They should not be treated as expendables. As the chief minister said, the people of Bihar are not a burden on anyone, but they take the burden of others. They contribute a lot to the economy of other states.