Cancer that is Incurable

While attending a gathering at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce on 22.08.08, the West Bengal industries minister Nirupam Sen was stumped by a simple question from S B Ganguly, the Exide chief : “You are running the government. How can a handful of farmers come in the way of the project? Why don’t you speak to them and settle their grievance?” Yes, the meeting was held to address the Singur issue after Ratan Tata declared that he would rather shift his Nano plant somewhere else than putting his employees in danger in Singur.

Apparently, the Singur issue, that is worsening every moment, looks that simple from a distance. But if you pay some heed to the matter, you will get a Pandora’s box opening in front of you. There are more questions than answers that diagnose a cancer to this state’s development wing.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee wants to do something that his ancestor Mr. Jyoti Basu carefully escaped to deal in his tenure in the fear of losing support and vote bank. So Mr. Bhattacharjee now faces countless obstacles in his path to make West Bengal his dream West Bengal.

The first obstacle is the disgraceful lady Mamata Banerjee (I cannot forget her image of dancing in the bonnet of Jyoti Basu’s ambassador drenched in rain). Clearly she has made this her personal issue as this is her ticket to front page. A ticket that can bring some light in her darker than dark political career.

Another obstacle is the inside party politics that Mr. Bhattacharjee has to deal with every time. I couldn’t be sure of this unless the Nandigarm incident had not happened. This is the major problem that binds Mr. Bhattacharjee’s hands stronger than anything else.

In my brief stay in Kolkata, I’ve actually seen people yearning for a strike that would give them an unexpected off from work. This mentality of people can be seen in the vacant buses during strikes in spite of Government promising for safe travel. This approach is not hidden from the companies and investors. They know it very well and this is the reason that the companies are not ready to extend their branch in Kolkata; and even if they do, the clients make it a point that no big or important project goes to Kolkata branch.

I really don’t know what will happen to the Tata plant; if they will really pull out their project from the state. But one thing is for sure that more the world will develop, more the people will earn, West Bengal will slip to even more darkness of underdevelopment, poverty if the current situation doesn’t change. If you take 15 minute ride from Surat, you will see one industry after another in both sides of the road. Thankfully the land where the factories have emerged never gave birth to potatoes and tomatoes like the Singur soil, which the opposition party is trying to save. Hasn’t the land produced enough potatoes in last 61 years; has anything changed in its surrounding? And look at Surat; it is the RICHEST city of the country. But where is Kolkata? Forget about competing with other metros, Kolkata cannot even compete with other state capitals and sate-second cities for jobs options or overall lifestyle. But whom to blame? The government? The opposition? The investors? The farmers? The people? There are more questions than answers that diagnose a cancer to this state’s development wing.