Kamal Nath stirred up a hornet’s nest just a day after becoming the new chief minister of Madhya Pradesh earlier this week. The declaration that his government would give incentives to only those industries offering 70 percent employment to the local population, and that youths from the state have been denied jobs because of migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have put the Congress party in an uncomfortable situation. The CM has defended his statement citing the Gujarat government’s recently proposed guideline to all the industrial units that have availed various incentives from the government while setting up the firms to hire 85 percent of their workforce from the local population, out of which 25 percent should be from the area where the units is being set up. But his defends only demeans his stature as a seasoned politician who is aware of India’s plurality and the fact that it is the fabric of nationalism that has woven dozens of communities with distinct cultures together. If public leaders and people’s representatives, who are supposed to be agents of national unity, start propagating divisive policies on the lines of caste, creed or man-made boundaries within the Indian union, the relationship between different states will be badly affected.
Promoting local talents and encouraging the youth to excel in all professions should be welcomed but attempts to denigrate migrants from other states who have contributed much to the growth of the nation is dangerous and can cause untold damage. We have learned from past incidences like the anti-North Indian agitation carried out by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in Maharashtra state and the careless statement made by former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit, who blamed migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for the capital city’s poor infrastructure, that some actions can have a cascading effect across the country and cause disorder for the simple reason that all states are interdependent in one way or the other. If all the 29 states start enacting laws to restrict free movement of Indian citizens from other regions, there will be anarchy and misunderstanding among the people. Such a move will deny the citizens of the fundamental right enshrined in the constitution of the country. Restricting the people from seeking jobs and working outside their states would be anti-democratic and anti-development. States should not be allowed to frame laws and policies that will harm and question the existence of the nation. National interest should be placed above the interest of a state and let the people of the country work wherever they want.
