How
Jagmohan Transformed historic Kurukshetra
Jagmohan
Malhotra, who passed away recently, became well-known, first as a bureaucrat
and then as a politician, for his dedication towards his job and a knack of
getting things done for the general welfare of the masses. While he focused on
working as per the rule-book, he did not particularly appreciate paeans sung in
his honour, as I found out during my first meeting with him.
I
had the privilege to meet Jagmohan twice through my friend and guide, Prof.
V.N. Datta, when he was Union Minister for Tourism and Culture. It was in the
early days of Jagmohan taking over as the Union Minister that the then Deputy
Commissioner Kurukshetra, Abhilash Lekhi, conveyed to me a message from then
Chief Minister O.P. Chautala. The Chief Minister had asked me to meet Jagmohan and
put in a request on behalf of the local people.
I
rang up Prof Datta and requested him to use his good offices with the Minister to
seek an appointment for me with him at the earliest. The very same night, Prof.
Datta called me back to confirm that Jagmohan would meet us at the India
International Centre the next evening.
The
meeting began with coffee and introductions. When Jagmohan enquired about the
reason for the meeting, I began by appreciating his style of work. I quickly
discovered that he did not take kindly to my praise, genuine as it was! Taking cue,
I came to point: I told him that the people of Kurukshetra were very happy to
see him take office as Minister for Tourism and Culture. Their fervent hope, I
told Jagmohan, was that he would now develop Kurukshetra just as he had done
the Vaisho Devi temple, in Jammu and Kashmir, during his tenure as Governor
there.
Jagmohan
reacted to this by declaring “No! It is quite different.” He went on to explain
that Gulzari Lal Nanda (late Union Minister and interim Prime Minister) had
already done a great job in developing Kurukshetra, and that he would merely have
to build on the work left by Nanda-ji. “I would get a good infrastructure to build
further,” concluded Jagmohan.
I
further conveyed to Jagmohan the message of the Chief Minister and the desire
of local residents to shift the proposed ‘Light and Sound’ project from
Jyotisar to Brahmasarovar, at Kurukshetra. I explained that Jyotisar was a bit
distant from the town of Kurukshetra whereas the Brahmasarovar was situated
right in the heart of the town and was easily accessible to pilgrims and
residents. True to his reputation, Jagmohan said that the project had already
been finalised and that it would not be advisable to change the location at this
stage, despite the Chief Minister’s kind request. However, he added that he
could get another proposal sanctioned for the Brahmasarovar. He noted my mobile
number to get spot reports for the work being done here.
A
few months later, I suddenly received a call from Jagmohan to confirm a report
that there were some technical mistakes in the construction of a double-lane
road to the famous ‘Shaktipeeth’ of Durga on Jhansa road, by the CPWD. When I
concurred and told him that the level of the new road was lower than the level
of the drain at a few places, he thanked me and promised action. An enquiry
team reached the spot the very next day. Action was taken and the fault
rectified promptly.
During
his tenure, Jagmohan completed several public works projects in Kurukshetra, for
which the town owes him a great deal of gratitude. In fact, he took the Gita
Jayanti celebrations in Kurukshetra to a level of international prominence and
acclaim that remains unmatched.
