by Naheed Ataulla

From his roots as a dynamic youth leader to representing the Shivajinagar constituency in Bengaluru, Congress' Rizwan Arshad now steers critical governance as the state's Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs minister. In an interview for Salar Upclose, Arshad traces his journey as a student leader in St Philomena's College in Mysuru to champion structural reforms for the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which is designed to streamline urban bodies and empower autonomous corporations.

1. The recent 'Mission Nikhara', which is an initiative of the Karnataka's department of metrology to ensure accurate petrol measurements at petrol pumps revealed deviations at 768 out of 805 inspected petrol bunks, what immediate steps are the legal metrology department taking to help citizens report and verify short-delivery on the spot without facing hostility from bunk owners?

The intention of Mission Nikhara is that consumers get the right quantity of fuel for which they are paying. Our department conducted an inspection of around 805 petrol bunks and there is something called permissible shortage and beyond that. Of the 805 petrol bunks, 101 have gone beyond the permissible shortage and the rest of the bunks are within the permissible shortage, which is also not acceptable. If consumers find bunks exceeding the permissible shortage, they should inform our department and we will recalibrate the machine which dispenses the fuel. We have booked cases against the 101 petrol bunks. 

I am calling a meeting of petroleum companies and dealers shortly and they will be given a proper standard operating procedure. Also writing to the Union home ministry as they have tweaked some rules which say the petrol bunks machines can be recalibrated once in two years. This is a loss to the consumers. Karnataka has said it will not follow these rules and will reset and recalibrate the machines every year. 

The department also inspected 18 LPG bottling plants and checked around 500 cylinders to find out if they have the exact LPG weightage. We found that 25 per cent of the LPG cylinders were not upto the mark. These bottling plants have been fined.

2. From collecting Rs 6.66 lakh in fines, will the department transition from monetary penalties to permanently cancelling the licences of repeat, habitual offenders?

We don't want to be harsh and cancel the licences. We have fined and booked cases. If more needs to be done, we'll do it. For now, I have asked the department to recalibrate and reset the fuel dispensing machines. We have 2,500 petrol bunks and work will start from October and be completed by December.

3. You recently put a temporary stop on cancelling additional/ineligible Below Poverty Line (BPL) ration cards. What scientific or systematic framework is your department building to re-evaluate these families fairly?

The evaluation of additional and ineligible ration cards is on, but nobody can arbitrarily delete anybody's ration card. I have put a temporary halt on the deletion process until we make sure that whom we are deleting is not an eligible beneficiary. It will take at least six months for us to go to the ground and understand. It's for this reason we are asking people to get their e-KYC done with the ration cards.

4. While extending the e-KYC verification deadline to 20 October gives temporary relief to ration card holders, it does not fix the underlying technical problems. What concrete structural upgrades is the Food and Civil Supplies Department making to fix the recurring server crashes and slow biometric processing speeds?

I've taken at least three marathon meetings with software professionals and the e-governance department who are responsible for managing our servers. We have brought in third parties to monitor and upgrade the servers. Presently, there are no complaints since eight to 10 days as 50 per cent of upgrading work has been done.

5. The current income limit to qualify for a BPL card is Rs 1.2 lakh per year, which was set a decade ago. Given the inflation, is the government considering raising this ceiling? When will fresh ration cards be issued?

I think fresh ration cards have been issued. We have to plan to raise the income ceiling limit because the minimum wage itself is above the ceiling limit now. But this needs a wider discussion as we have to understand the ramifications of this decision. As raising the income ceiling limit is a state subject, we have to analyse the financial implications of it. It cannot be a decision by my department alone.

6. You have announced plans for a Command and Control Centre and GPS-tracking for vehicles carrying ration grains. How close is Karnataka to completely plugging pilferage and black-marketing through this digital push?  

It's an accepted fact that a huge quantity of foodgrains are being sold in the black market. But there are methods to check this and technology is one of them. I was surprised to find that none of our godowns have CCTV cameras, nor the vehicles transporting the foodgrains have GPS tracking. Presently, we don't have a system with the click of a button, one can trace which vehicle has started and where it's unloading the foodgrains. The command and control centre can monitor this and in this aspect my department is still primitive. After I took charge, I asked them to set up the command and control department and install GPS tracking and 70 per cent of all vehicles have it now.

7. Following recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) and IT raids on cabinet colleagues in Karnataka, you criticised central investigative agencies, stating they function like the "youth and student wings" of the BJP. How do you respond to the opposition’s counter-claim that these actions are purely anti-corruption efforts based on evidence? 

If that's the case, the opposition parties should say corruption is only in our party. If the person is from the opposition parties, the argument is evidence is available and those who shift to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) owing to pressure from the ED or the CBI are given a clean chit. 

The BJP has no moral authority to talk about all this and it's an open knowledge that the ED and the CBI are the political wings of the BJP including the Election Commission. They are targeting members in the opposition parties and want to weaken it. They manipulate elections to get a victory and claim their leader is a Vishwa Guru. These central agencies work on the BJP's directions and diktats, which is why I said they are the yuva morcha and students' wing of the party.

8. Having been intricately involved in formulating the plan for the GBA, you have championed it as a game-changer. However, there is apprehension that this model could jeopardise local governance? 

No. That's a settled issue. I don't know why people raise this as we have created the administrative infrastructure with full autonomy to all the five corporations. They have been given the powers drawn from the 73rd and 74th amendments of the Constitution. That's why nobody has been able to challenge it in any court.

9. Coming up directly through the ranks of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and twice leading the state's Youth Congress, you represent the younger block of the cabinet. What unique approach is Congress taking to remain culturally and politically relevant to Gen Z and first-time voters who do not have a legacy alignment with your party?

My party believes in fighting for the people of this country including the youngsters. When former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi introduced the computers, it was for whom - the younger generation. He reduced the voting age from 21 years to 18 years, it was for the younger generation. When economic liberation was ushered in and jobs were created, it was for the younger generation. We have historically done justice with the younger generation whenever we have been in power and today we are not in power, yet we need to be the voice of the younger generation. This is the reason LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has become the voice and a catalyst for the younger generation. During the UPA government, the gross domestic product spend on education was 4.6 per cent, now it is reduced to 3.2 to 2 per cent under Modi's regime. We are having the highest unemployment rate in the last 40 years. 

Every promise Modi makes turns out to be a jumla (political gimmick). The Sangh Parivar along with the media is trying to make communal tension the biggest problem in the country. They are trying to manipulate democracy. The youngsters’ future is at stake and the Congress is trying to amplify their concerns. We are trying to make a point that their aspirations are under threat because of the misdeeds of the Modi government. Rahul Gandhi's ‘Chaatron ki Goonj' is attracting a lot of youngsters. All those who  did not believe what Rahul Gandhi was speaking are listening and reasoning with him now. Whatever Modi has been saying has become a jumla and he is the biggest jumla in the last 12 years.

10. You frequently highlight your own journey — rising from a St Philomena's College representative in the NSUI to a cabinet minister without a political legacy. Will reviving student elections create a genuine meritocracy for ordinary Gen Z students?

In a democracy, one needs young people and through their participation leaders emerge. I came up by participating in college elections. In the last 25 years there have been no student union elections. Rahul Gandhi's view is we need to give a voice to the student community. The state government has decided that from this academic year onwards, we'll conduct elections in every college and university. I'm sure that a new generation of leaders will emerge and it can be from any political party or organisation. We have no issues.

11. Shivajinagar constituency is multi-lingual and multi-religious. Amidst increasing political and social polarisation, how do you sustain a platform of absolute communal harmony while serving a highly diverse, urban voter base?  

I am a very secular person and respect every religion. I take everybody along. If I respect the other communities, they will respect me and that is why I got an overwhelming majority in the last election. Cutting across community, caste, creed and language, they voted me. I'm lucky that I've got a constituency like Shivajinagar which has people  from all languages and religions.  

12. Given your good network with the Congress high command, how will you respond to the Muslim community members who feel that mainstream political parties including your party have not given adequate representation to Muslims in key decision-making or candidates selection.

I don't agree because Congress is the only party which is giving representation to the Muslim community. There is not a single member of parliament in BJP from the Muslim community. From Karnataka Congress, we have two Muslims, Mansoor Ali Khan and Syed Naseer Hussain in the Rajya Sabha, there are 10 Muslim MLAs all from the Congress, three MLCs, three Muslims in the cabinet holding key portfolios and the legislative council chairman is also a Muslim. Tell me which political party can claim to accommodate our community in this fashion? There's more to be done. It's a false propaganda that there is no representation to the community.