UP polls: The woes of Peetalnagari

Will Moradabad's sputtering economy be a decisive factor on the voting day today?

Moradabad's famous brassware industry is losing its shine. But the future is bright, say aspirants canvassing for votes in the run-up to the charged Assembly elections in this pocket of western Uttar Pradesh.

How many in the brass city buy that? It is hard to tell. What voters tell visitors and what they actually do on polling day are not always the same. The Moradabad Nagar constituency votes on February 14, and we will not know the results till March 10. The sitting MLA of the Moradabad Nagar assembly constituency is Ritesh Kumar Gupta of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

But even hardcore supporters of the ruling BJP agree that the economy, particularly the brassware industry, is doing poorly. Over the years, poll promises have come and gone unkept.

To be sure, the BJP's poll buzzwords are politics of development, security and good governance. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a poster boy for unapologetic hardline Hindutva, uses development and bulldozer in the same sentence. "The BJP government keeps development on the one hand and a bulldozer on the other. This bulldozer is used to run over the mafia. For this reason, women in the state are safe, and the girls are going to schools," he recently said.

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Many ruling party leaders openly bat for such bulldozing tactics by the executive rather than the rule of law that is admittedly slower. Have such tactics helped draw investments and created jobs for ordinary people in the state? The answer depends on who you speak to. But that without investments, UP cannot solve its biggest problem — unemployment — is hard to contest.

The Samajwadi Party's poll promises include jobs and free electricity, and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has talked about setting up a 'job calendar' for young people in Uttar Pradesh for different types of employment.

What does all this mean to the artisans and traders in Peetal Nagari, as Moradabad is popularly known? A day spent walking through lanes and bylanes of the brass city was instructive.

The crowds are back, but buyers are still too few. In Moradabad's Bartan Bazar area, brass busts of Babasaheb Ambedkar are on display alongside statues of Buddha and Ganesh in different sizes.

Sharad Gupta, a shop owner, says tourists from Maharashtra love them. But this year, as last year, there have been very few buyers. "Problems started quite some time ago. Moradabad's lifeline used to be the brass industry. But the price of coal and copper used to make brassware have shot up. The pandemic made things worse. Fewer people are travelling, fewer people have money to spare," says Gupta.

Like in so many places across the country, Moradabad's micro and small-scale brassware makers got a severe shock in the wake of the demonetisation, then came the central government's goods and services tax (GST) and then the pandemic and the lockdowns.

Moradabad has not recovered from these successive shocks.

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The Uttar Pradesh government has a One District-One Product Programme (ODOP) to encourage indigenous and specialised products and crafts. Moradabad's Peetal Nagari is part of this ambitious scheme. The state government has appointed Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut as the ODOP brand ambassador. But conversations with people in Moradabad suggest that its impact is still to be felt on the ground, especially by artisans and small units.

Israr Ahmad, 68, a brassware manufacturer and exporter based in Moradabad's Karula neighbourhood, laughs when asked about poll promises to bring back the sheen to the brass city. "No political party is talking seriously about the plight of those in the brass industry. Not the ruling party. Nor the opposition. Note that everything that is being said is in the future tense – this will happen, that will happen. They are all selling dreams."

In every election, all kinds of promises and claims are made to the artisans, says Ahmad wryly. "But these promises remain just promises. Where is the specific and time-bound plan to improve the lives of Moradabad's brass people? The fortunes of the Moradabad have been declining for many years now. Many reasons, as you know. This is my family business. I have been part of this for the past 40 years, but fewer and fewer people want to be part of the brass business now."

The ruling BJP has promised to double per capita income in Uttar Pradesh if voted back to power.

Shahzad, who used to be an artisan making brassware, now sells bathroom and kitchen scrubbers in Moradabad's Mandi Chowk area. He says the state of the brass industry is pitiful; he has no choice. Asked about the elections, he looks up at the sky, sighs and says he has no hopes from any political party.

If a roadmap to improve the lot of Moradabad's brassware workers and traders is not the big talking point, what is the dominant buzz in poll speeches in the brass city? Gupta smiles. "What do you think? Ram Mandir. Kashi..." He makes it clear that he is unwilling to get into a discussion on his political inclination.

Equally clear is his dim expectations about the chances of revival of Moradabad's brass industry no matter who wins.

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"There are too many divisive speeches, too much hate. In Moradabad's brass industry, Hindus and Muslims have an interdependent relationship. We will rise or sink together. This city was world-famous. Now we are losing our skilled artisans; the next generation sees no future. We need concrete actions like a lower GST, a government-supported training centre which can hire skilled artisans to train others, pay them a salary and pay apprentices a stipend. Not just big talk, but actual action on the ground," says Ahmad.

Many of Moradabad's problems are found elsewhere in the state as well. "Uttar Pradesh faces a major challenge in skill development of its population, particularly those in the age-group of 18 to 24 years. Reasons for such a lower proportion of technically trained persons in Uttar Pradesh can be traced to the historically inadequate infrastructure for technical and vocational education," a 2017 report by the International Labour Organisation had noted.

Shopkeepers in Moradabad who are openly sympathetic to the ruling BJP downplay the problems of the brass industry. Kailash Chandra, a wholesale supplier of decorative brass items, acknowledges that he has far fewer buyers but says the government can't be expected "to do everything and feed all the poor. If we keep giving money for freebies for the poor, where will we have resources to defend our borders?" The electricity supply has improved in the last five years, he points out. There are fewer power cuts.

On voting day, will the city's stuttering economy be a decisive factor? The jury is out. Moradabad's voters are holding their cards close to their chest.

(Patralekha Chatterjee is an independent journalist and columnist)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.

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