In One Year As Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mohan Yadav Ventures Into Paths 'Mamaji' Didn't Tread

When Dr Mohan Yadav took oath as Chief Minister (CM) of Madhya Pradesh (MP) on 13 December 2023, doubts were cast on his leadership as comparisons were made with his predecessor, the popular 'Mamaji'.

Yadav had served as the Minister of Higher Education for three years under Shivraj Singh Chouhan — too few years of experience compared to Chouhan's towering record of governing a state for over 16 years.

Despite that, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided to replace its longest-serving CM with the three-time member of the legislative assembly (MLA) from Ujjain South.

Chouhan transformed Madhya Pradesh from a "BIMARU" state to a leading agricultural producer through agriculture financing, irrigation, and other supportive schemes. He also did a commendable job of road construction, rural development, and women empowerment.

However, he fell short in industrialisation and urban development.

Chouhan did try to make inroads in these directions, but his efforts didn't bear much fruit due to a 15-month break in his government after the 2018 loss and then the Covid-19 era that took off as he took oath in March 2020.

When the BJP leadership felt there was fatigue setting in against Chouhan and that he was not bringing any new ideas to the table, he was replaced by Yadav, who appears to understand why he was brought in.

Yadav faced criticism initially for directing his focus on hometown Ujjain instead of the entire state. He was making frequent visits to the holy city of Mahakal and participating in various events there.

Even the first Regional Industry Conclave (RIC) was held in Ujjain. Subsequently, however, the conclave was held in all divisions of MP. So perhaps, Yadav can be freed of allegations of focus on one region alone.

Industrialisation

After the conclusion of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, one RIC is being organised in the state every month since July.

The Ujjain RIC was hugely successful, receiving investment proposals worth Rs 1 lakh crore.

The Jabalpur RIC, held in July, was able to attract investment proposals worth Rs 17,000 crore. Rs 5,000 crore in proposals came from micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME).

The Jabalpur edition was also fruitful for defence manufacturing, with a Rs 600 crore memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Ashok Leyland and Armed Vehicle Corporation.

Similarly, the Gwalior RIC, held in August, proved to be a success. Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia claimed that the region attracted Rs 1.84 lakh crore investments in the last six months.

Then in September, the Sagar RIC set a milestone by receiving investment proposals worth Rs 23,000 crore, the most notable ones being for a data centre and a steel plant.

All this RIC success stepped up in the Rewa edition, held in October, as proposals worth more than Rs 31,000 crore were finalised and an Inland Container Depot and a multi-model logistics park were announced.

On the side, Yadav has been visiting various cities both in and outside India to woo investors. As of writing this report, the MP CM has secured investment proposals worth Rs 60,000 crore from the United Kingdom (UK). He also visited Germany, among other countries, recently.

The aim of these visits is to draw investors to the Global Investors' Summit (GIS), which is scheduled for February 2025 in Bhopal, and bring in more investment proposals.

Earlier, Yadav took part in the 'Investment Opportunities in Madhya Pradesh' events held in Mumbai and Bengaluru and again received investment proposals worth Rs 3,200 crore from the latter city.

After Yadav returns from his foreign visits at the start of December, an RIC is scheduled in Narmadapuram (earlier Hoshangabad) for 7 December, which will be the sixth edition of the conclave.

Notably, six conclaves have been held in six regions of MP — Ujjain is in Malwa-Nimar, Gwalior in Chambal, Sagar in Bundelkhand, Jabalpur in Mahakaushal, Rewa in Baghelkhand, and Narmadapuram in Bhopal Division.

"More than 60 new industrial units are being established in the state at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore, which will generate more than 17,000 employment opportunities," Yadav said on the state's foundation day.

Yadav has also been seeking collaboration with other states for industrial development. For instance, the state's industrial office will be set up in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore for industrial cooperation.

Similarly, there will be some cooperation between MP and Maharashtra to promote agro-based industries. The announcement was made at the Agrovision National Agricultural Fair in Nagpur last week.

Yadav's efforts for industrial development in Madhya Pradesh were much-needed and long-overdue. While the state's industry contributes nearly 20 per cent to its gross domestic product (GDP), the national average is more than 27 per cent.

These efforts might take some time to bear fruit. Still, Yadav is hopeful of seeing 'tangible impact' during the Bhopal GIS scheduled for 7-8 February 2025. He has decided to celebrate 2025 as the "Year of Industry."

Urban Development

Similar to industrial growth, efforts at urban development take time to show concretely due to the long gestation periods. Having said that, Yadav has only taken baby steps in this direction so far.

Indore and Bhopal are the two major cities of MP. Yet, neither of them has an operational metro network.

The only major urban development work that has been wrapped up is the removal of a dedicated corridor for the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). It hadn't fulfilled its purpose of speeding up public transport; rather, it had caused greater traffic stress.

However, a redesigned BRTS corridor is yet to be inaugurated. It is awaiting the completion of the Public Works Department (PWD) flyover connecting Habibganj to Bhopal Haat. Yadav has also promised the removal of the dedicated BRTS corridor in Indore.

The CM also has a vision for developing Bhopal as a metropolitan city and building a 'state capital region' around it, similar to the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) concept.

However, after a proposed master plan for Bhopal was scrapped due to objections, a new draft has not been released yet, leaving the vision of a slum-free Bhopal with better infrastructure in a limbo.

Meanwhile, Yadav is considering establishing metro connectivity in Ujjain by Simhasth (Kumbh) 2028 and Vande metro connectivity between MP's major cities in the vein of a Delhi-Meerut RRTS. There is no concrete plan as yet.

As for the challenges facing Yadav, here are some:

State Finances

While industrialisation and urban development will boost the state's revenues, the results will take time to show. For now, MP is under a debt of Rs 3.85 lakh crore, of which Rs 10,000 crore was taken in this financial year (FY).

In the last FY, after Yadav became CM, a loan of Rs 17,500 crore was taken, accounting for over 40 per cent of the total loan taken in that FY.

It is believed that in order to run its welfare schemes, especially the Ladli Laxmi Yojana, which costs nearly Rs 1,600 crore every month, the MP government needs money, and so it took loans.

However, no major efforts to increase the revenue are seen from the government. Record revenues from excise and government tourist hotels are a silver lining, but no structural reforms have been undertaken yet.

Medical Colleges

The insufficient medical infrastructure is another challenge facing MP. While its neighbours Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Rajasthan are inching towards the goal of one medical college in every district, MP has quite some work to do.

UP, with its 75 districts, already has 70 medical colleges, and Rajasthan, with its 50 districts (33 until last year), has 25 government medical colleges.

In contrast, MP, with 55 districts, just has 17 government colleges. Of these, three, in Seoni, Neemach, and Mandsaur, started only this academic year, after Yadav became CM.

Earlier, three medical colleges were approved with 50 seats each, but an expansion to 100 seats for each college was later greenlit. In November, the foundation stone for the state's first medicity was laid in Ujjain.

In addition, eight medical colleges are under construction. After these come up, the total count will rise to 25, equalling Rajasthan. Both the states have similar populations.

Further, 13 private medical colleges operate in MP, and the Yadav government has issued tenders for 12 more. This will take the total count to 50, but timely fulfilment of promises will be key.

Employment Opportunities

The BJP leadership must remember that the party promised 2.5 lakh government jobs in the state during the 2023 assembly election campaign.

However, the MP government has not initiated a single recruitment process, creating distress among the youth. Earlier, it was decided that by December, 1 lakh vacancies would be filled. But a decision on reservation may have delayed the process.

In November, the Yadav government had decided to increase the reservation for women in state government jobs from 33 per cent to 35 per cent. Thereafter, the CM confirmed, "All formalities for government recruitment are being completed. The recruitment process will begin soon," in line with the 'Sankalp Patra' promises.

Yadav has asked all departments of the state government to complete the necessary formalities related to recruitment, including the calculation of vacancies for each cadre as of 1 April 2024.

Vacant posts in the first, second, and third categories will be filled through direct recruitment, while for the fourth category, an outsourcing policy will be implemented except in cases where direct recruitment is essential.

While government recruitment in the state has suffered from a lackadaisical approach thus far, the good news is that the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) shows MP to have the lowest unemployment rate.

As per data released in September, the unemployment rate in the state was 2.6 per cent, below the national average of 3.2 per cent. Moreover, the recent efforts at drawing investments are expected to create 3.25 lakh job opportunities in the state.

The MP government is also set to launch Yuva Shakti Mission on 1 January 2025 for employment opportunties and skill development.

There are already 8,000 beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri Seekho-Kamao Yojana. This scheme was launched before the 2023 assembly election to woo the youth. It provides internships in the industry along with a stipend. So far, Rs 6.6 crore has been disbursed to select students.

All said and done, this much can be said: Yadav has understood his focus areas and is working on them. It's only been a short time since he's taken over the reins of the state.