No recruitment scam in my tenure: Former Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat

Police had allegedly resorted to lathi-charge in Dehradun after a protest of the unemployed youths had turned violent. The incident drew criticism from the former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat, raising questions about a dent between him and current CM Pushkar Singh Dhami. Against this backdrop, Rawat spoke candidly on a host of issues ranging from recruitment scams and contesting in Lok Sabha elections to many important matters in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat.

Dehradun (Uttarakhand):Former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat is in the limelight over his recent statements. His comments on police lathi-charge and many other decisions of the government have left both the ruling party and the Opposition puzzled. ETV Bharat reached out to Rawat to discuss all these issues. He spoke about government policies, lathicharge on unemployed youth and several other issues pertaining to the state.

On the Pushkar Singh Dhami government's one-year completion, Rawat said a year is, too, less to assess any government's performance. It is incorrect to assess someone's work in just one year. Rawat termed Dhami's decisions and manner of running the government satisfactory. He said the Dhami government was taking the state in the right direction. The anti-copying law is a good step and aims at addressing the concerns and expectations of the youths, he said.

Responding to CM Dhami's claims that recruitment scams had occurred before his government came to power, Rawat clarified there were no such scams during his tenure. "Be it from 2002 to 2012 or other governments after that, in the last 22 years, the people of this state gave 13 years to the BJP. So, it's difficult to say who should be blamed. Whether it is corruption or any other issue, you cannot blame any single person," Rawat said. He said when he was the Chief Minister, he has conducted 68 recruitments, but there were no complaints during his tenure. All recruitments were conducted properly and by following all norms, he added.

When ETV Bharat questioned the police lath-charge incident, Rawat said that presently there is a need to build confidence and trust among the youths. "Those who are criticising my statements and saying that police had resorted to lathi-charge during my tenure as well, I would like to tell them that these two incidents should not be connected," he said. "We have to consider the two situations based on the circumstances that led to those. What was the situation then and what is it now? If people keep on criticising then it would not be appropriate to speak on any issue."

It may be recalled that during Rawat's tenure, police had lathi-charged and used water cannons to disperse protesters, who were on their way to lay siege to the Uttarakhand Assembly. Speaking on the Lok Sabha elections, Rawat said wherever the party says him to contest, he is ready. "Even if it is Almora, I'm ready," he said adding that he was doing work and loved to travel as well as spend time with workers. He has been frequently touring Garhwal and Kumaon.

On his removal from the Chief Minister's post, Rawat said the frequent change of power and the CM was not good for the state as it stalls development. Uttarakhand needs stability. "Some people use the politics of Uttarakhand and Uttarakhand for their own benefit, which is not good. He said that during his tenure, decisions were taken after consulting the ministers and MLAs so nobody was angry in that period.

Asserting that former CMs are hurt when their decisions are changed by the new CM, Rawat said Rs 25,000 crore was allotted for developing Gairsain as an integrated township with all facilities, including a water system, school, hospital and others. Though work has started a lot remains to be completed, he said. "It is painful when decisions of former CMs are changed. This pain can be personal, but a CM always takes decisions in the interests of the people," he said.

On Devasthanam Board, a proposed umbrella body to regulate temples under its preview, Rawat said the Board was meant for the hundreds of temples associated with Char Dham. People living abroad could easily donate money to religious sites, which could use the funds for renovation. This apart, priests would also have benefitted, he said. The Uttarakhand government had scrapped the Board after priests opposed it saying it would snatch their land rights and that they were not consulted beforehand.