Kalraj Mishra has been doing the rounds of the prime minister's office. The minister for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) wants to expedite the appointment of a chairman for the Khadi and Village Industries Commission.
“Khadi is a symbol of India,” says Mishra, 73, at his Safdarjung Road residence in Delhi. He has a packed schedule that day with a number of appointments in the morning followed by a cabinet meeting in the afternoon. He begins his day at 5.30am and usually works beyond 11pm.
He moves around with at least four secretaries and assistants, who need to keep pace with their indefatigable, brisk boss, says a close aide.
A first-time Union cabinet minister, Mishra is a veteran politician from Uttar Pradesh. “Politics is in his blood,” says a party member. Elected to the Rajya Sabha three times, he has held various party positions at the state and national levels.
From March 1997 to August 2000, he was cabinet minister in the UP government in charge of public works, medical education and tourism.
Mishra joined the RSS as a pracharak in 1963. He says it is the discipline it inculcated in him that has him running sprightly through the day.
“I may not look very fit, but I am,” says Mishra, smiling. “I practise yoga asanas every morning.” A sports enthusiast, Mishra played kabaddi in his youth, and has held various positions of authority in archery and Olympic associations. “I have more discipline than a sportsman,” he says.
“I have tried to inculcate the sportsman's spirit in my personal life, too.”
EARLY IN HIS political career, Mishra was greatly influenced by the Jayaprakash Narayan Movement. In 1978, he was appointed the first president of the All India Janata Yuva Morcha and he forged close relationships with BJP stalwarts A.B. Vajpayee and L.K. Advani. More than three decades later, he enjoys “good relations” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
BJP sources say that Modi holds Mishra in high regard. “We have heard stories of Modi waiting to listen to Mishra's speeches [when Modi was a young RSS pracharak in the late 70s and early 80s],” says a party member.
Mishra has worked closely with other BJP stalwarts, too, like M.S. Golwalkar, Syama Prasad Mookerjea and Rajendra Singh [popularly called Rajju Bhaiya].
Under Mishra's aegis, and with a little help from Modi, the MSME ministry is being completely overhauled. “People are getting attracted to the MSME sector,” says Mishra.
“Industrial associations as well as state governments in Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand have opened MSME departments.”
He has been actively promoting the production and sale of khadi products, and his efforts recently got a boost from the PM. Khadi sales were said to have increased 125 per cent after Modi, in his Independence Day speech and ‘Mann ki Baat' address on All India Radio on October 3, exhorted the nation to buy at least one khadi product.
“Earlier, there was never a campaign to popularise khadi,” says Mishra. “Hence, the common man never accepted it. Our government has focused to rectify this.”
Mishra, on his part, has been trying to popularise the industry among the youth by promoting attractive offers and discounts for students. He has encouraged the use of aggressive and modern marketing tools which has led to increased footfalls in khadi stores across India.
“We have made khadi and its products more popular and are also ensuring that we can compete at the global level,” says Mishra. “We are upgrading charkhas to increase production and will invest Rs300 crore to improve and upgrade quality, designs, advertising and showrooms. Recently, buses selling khadi products made sales of almost Rs15 lakh in one day.
We also went to colleges in Delhi and advertised in restaurants. We buy so many things, let us buy at least one khadi product.”
Mishra believes that India's future depends on the growth and prosperity of the MSME sector, which currently makes up 8 per cent of India's GDP and generates 28 per cent of total employment. In less than six months, his ministry has given shape to the amended MSME policy, which, if tabled in Parliament's approaching winter session, will see increased capital allocations for various sectors of MSMEs. Mishra also plans to increase the number of incubation centres from 70 to 500.
“There should be an incubation centre in every district of the country,” he says. “Through them there will be skill development, MSMEs with less capital will be encouraged, and the youth will be made self-reliant.” He is also taking steps to encourage rural entrepreneurs, including women.
“Through these endeavours, there won't be lack of skilled labour in the manufacturing industry,” he says. “We will strengthen the [PM's] ‘Make in India' campaign.”
THE MSME MINISTRY is extremely active on social media. Mishra, himself, is active on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. He also has a website and aYouTube channel.
“Social media is very effective as a modern technology tool through which we can spread news and must be utilised to the fullest,” he says. “But we shouldn't be totally dependent on it and move away from reality. People-to-people contact is very important.”
The septuagenarian keeps his energy levels up by taking power naps while commuting. When he is not working, he enjoys spending time with his grandchildren. His biography, Rashtrawadi Karmayogi, and a book he edited,Hindutva: Ek Jeevan Shaili, find pride of place alongside books on Mahatma Gandhi on the shelves of Delhi's Khadi Bhawan store. He has written other books, including one on judicial accountability.
“I haven't studied law but the Liberhan Commission [Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry] and the judge's verdict aggrieved me a lot, so I decided to write on it,” he says. “My English isn't very strong, so I got help.” He sent his book for vetting to his cabinet colleague Arun Jaitley, who was pleasantly surprised with Mishra's efforts. Jaitley helped write the foreword.
“I don't speak English from the very beginning and neither am I supportive of it,” says Mishra. “Why can't we speak in our language? Where it is required, I will speak [in English]. But why should I speak it in the Indian Parliament?” He is a true-blue swadeshi; in language, attire and at heart.
