West Bengal: The Industrialisation Dilemma

The new found interest of people in the state of West Bengal is a tad too disturbing as it gives rise to a number of questions. Firstly, why all of a sudden after so many years, all corners of the country are so concerned about industrialization in Bengal? Secondly, are they aware of the CPI(M)’s ‘developmental’ approach in all spheres of life in the state for the last three decades? Thirdly, now that almost all the states have gone past West Bengal in the race for development, does it really matter if West Bengal does not wake up at all from this ‘chosen’ slumber? Fourthly, do the outsiders (read the pundits in Delhi) know anything about the Guinness record-holder government in the state of West Bengal? There are more questions that will surface as this piece goes on.

For a generation born in the left regime, it was always a story of frustration, disillusionment and hoping against hope. Today, any and every ignorant, innocent bystander asks, ‘Are you against development’ when you take side with the farmers who are agitating in Singur.

Well, the answer to the question is of course no. But the question is not so simple to be answered in yes or no. All sensible residents of West Bengal desperately mooted for development, which inevitably meant industrialization for the last three decades. They became a despaired lot in these years because of the state government’s approach. When the left came in power, they drove away all the investors, closed down factories and put hindrances in all developmental work under the pretext of ‘protecting workers’ rights’. As if the workers in Bengal were an impoverished, neglected, exploited lot compared to the workers in other states! Only at the turn of the 21st century did the state government realize that they had to change their weird, nonsensical policy. By then, developmental work had almost reached a saturation point in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Maharashtra. And by the time this article is written, there are reports that the IT boom in the southern states is dying a natural death and companies of the stature of IBM are reluctant to keep their word with IT job aspirants from even IIT Chennai.

When a policy change happens after three decades and lives are lost as a result, it is sure not to go down well with those sensible residents. Let me try and understand the desperation of the CPI(M) government.

There are states that generate revenue from tourism and education, Rajasthan and Maharashtra for example. These two important sectors have not only been neglected by the CPI(M) government but one of them, education, it could be safely said has been murdered following a meticulous plan. Archaic syllabus, an age-old mindset that 60%, a mark which hardly impresses anyone the world over should be reserved for the ‘cream’ and complete ignorance towards the emerging fields of study have all added to the collapse of the education system in West Bengal. Thus, special trains are run to carry students of West Bengal to appear for the Common Entrance Test (CET) examination in Karnataka, students from the state enroll themselves in hordes for ordinary BA, BSC, BCOM courses in Pune and a student coming to West Bengal for educational purposes is rightly looked upon as an alien if he is not a student of one of the two central government run institutes, IIM Calcutta and IIT Kharagpur and a private institute, West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS). As for the University of Pune, it continues to prosper with faculties not half as good as their counterparts in the University of Calcutta.

As regards tourism, the state cannot boast of a single tourist spot including its capital Calcutta, the ex-capital of India. Foreigners come to India with a plan to visit the Taj Mahal, Lal Qilla and the innumerable forts in Rajasthan but not Victoria Memorial. With the Himalayas (Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak could be seen from Darjeeling and other townships of North Bengal), the Bay of Bengal and the Sunderbans at its disposal, what is the state government’s excuse for such a poor state of tourism in Bengal? Himachal Pradesh boasts of a number of hill stations, most of whom would fail to give Darjeeling a run for its money. Still, West Bengal lies at the bottom of the barrel as far as revenue earned from tourism is concerned!

It is common knowledge that had these sectors prospered, this desperate need for development could have been avoided, people in West Bengal would have been a happier lot even without the Nano factory and they would have come out of this self-imposed frog-of-the well despicable state of theirs.

Here is a (and not the) perspective of a resident of West Bengal. All that matters to me is the fall of this double standard, murderous and anti-development government. I am happy with the way things are in the state of West Bengal. I do not want to see the CPI(M) take credit for West Bengal’s development for the simple reason that they did not claim responsibilities for the poor state of the state. I would vote for the Congress, BJP, BSP, SP, AIADMK, MNS, Shiv Sena, independent candidates – anyone to see this government go. Let me be very clear, the state has nothing to lose, it cannot languish any further than what the left front government is already responsible for.