Middle article in Daily World on May 15, 2021

 

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.