Bengal socio-political scenario further mars developmental prospect of the state

When in last June union commerce ministry published it performance report (of 2020) on ease of business and investment in different states, West Bengal was placed in the third category of ‘aspirers’. The first and second categories were those of ‘top achievers’ (Andhra, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamilnadu and Telengana) and ‘achievers’ (Uttar Pradesh, Himachal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odissa, Uttarakhand).

Bengal was placed in the third class along with Rajasthan, Kerala, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Jharkhand. It was perhaps symbolic for Bengal, for the state is in ‘aspiring’ category for last three decades since the economic reforms began, though the categorization by the commerce ministry has been introduced this year.

This time, interestingly, the categorization was done on the basis of industry’s perception. It means all the big states, and even Odissa, will attract more investment in the coming years than Bengal. So it was known even in July that Bengal will slip down further compared to the top achiever and achiever states.

But now the political scenario has made the ground under Bengal’s feet all the more slippery. As is the situation developing in Bengal, the people’s moral is down for never in the past the government or the ruling party was accused and investigated (by the central agencies on high court’s direction) of such humongous corruption. It is sure to severely affect the attraction of Bengal as investment destination.

It is not because the CBI and ED have arrested a few TMC leaders including two top ones (Partha Chatterjee, the former secretary general of the party and believed to be number two in the cabinet after Subrata Mukherjee’s demise) and Anubrata Mandal (one of the few most trusted organizational leader of the chief minister). After all, very rarely nowadays people of any state can vouch for their politicians as far as minimum standards of honesty and integrity are concerned.

It is the rampant corruption at the lower level being exposed now that will make investment hesitant to move into Bengal. Be it smuggling of cattle or coal or sand, or be it teachers’ recruitment, a widespread network is being unearthed. People accused of sending money to foreign bank accounts are being found even in small towns. And they go to any extent to silence the protesters, making the environment unsafe for investors.

More dangerous is two other facets of this widespread corruption. First, some businessmen have come forward from the districts, particularly of Birbhum (Anubrata Mandal was the district president of TMC of this district) alleging that huge money (both in cash and kind) was extracted from them by the TMC party.

Secondly, different illegal toll booths raising crores of rupees a day have come to light, and it has been alleged that these booths are being run by the local TMC leaders with active help from the police. The police is also accused of falsely implicating people, including TMC men who questioned such corrupt practices, of drug cases. Not only lower level cops, but various IPS officers are also under scanner now.

In short, Bengal has plunged into anarchy, and that is being unearthed day by day. During the Left regime, law was made ineffective only, but the targets were mainly the political opponents. Now another dimension has been added, and that is of huge corruption of the political entities in collaboration with the police and the administration.

It is not only that investment will not come to Bengal as long as the TMC will rule it. In all probability the business and industry will skirt Bengal at least for some years even if the regime changes. In other words, even if the regime changes in 2026, when the next assembly elections will be held, investment will not come to Bengal in this decade.

Meanwhile Bengal’s finance is slowly going haywire. The Chief Minister has recently said that every day she thinks about how to manage the state’s finance. Furthermore, the High Court has ordered the state to pay due DA to government workers, which would cost the exchequer INR 30,000 crore. However, the state government is in no mood to comply.

West Bengal is fourth highest among all ndian states in debt to GDP ratio. It is 30.66 percent for Bengal. In second, third and fifth position are Bihar (31.95), Rajasthan (30.89) and UP (28.95). Punjab has however gone berserk in this regard with 45.26 percent.

Mamata Banerjee still blames the previous regime for the poor economic situation of the state. But this is a lame excuse after ruling the state for 11 years. The main reason for slow success is her rampant freebies to buy votes. But the grim economic situation along with lack of investment will only push Bengal backward in comparison with advances states. – INDIA NEWS STREAM