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Suddenly, it seems that all the promise of a bright economic future which was in store for West Bengal is about to recede into the background, leaving the State where it was during the past three decades or so. The State government will, of course, disagree with this reading because, if for no other reason, it is in its immediate interest to do so. By nature, industrial investments flowing into any region is infectious in the sense that if one or two big-ticket investments take place, there is a horde of others waiting in the queue to jump in. Conversely, and this is what is important to Writers’ Buildings at this juncture, if promised big projects fail to materialise, other potential investors will waste no time in withdrawing to the sidelines to see which way the wind is blowing.

Admittedly, the Singur small-car plant of the Tatas is still in the works, so to speak, with construction continuing apace to meet set deadlines. In fact, this is the only silver lining in an otherwise depressing investment scenario (one is not speaking of cold statistics which, nearly always, do not indicate conditions on the ground), which the citizens of the State must cling on to if they are ever to get out of the extended industrial winter which West Bengal has been passing through since the 1980s.

In short, the significance of the Singur plant for the State is that it is going to be the litmus test for the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Government as far as its industrial credentials are concerned, the world at large depending entirely on the test to conclude whether West Bengal has any worthwhile economic future for the next decade or so.

For the hapless people of the State, the stakes are high indeed. Despite the fact that agriculture (based on land reforms) has been a remarkable success in West Bengal under the Left Front since the late 1970s, the economic future of the State now will depend solely on the progress it makes on the industrial front, in the process producing an enviable agriculture-industry amalgam which could turn out to be the cynosure of all eyes in the economic policy-making sphere. Effective land reforms have altered the economic landscape in the rural areas, not only raising farm production to satisfactory levels but also, as a direct spin-off, improving vastly the wellbeing of the rural people.

But the very success of agriculture based on land reforms is now turning out to be a serious obstacle in the way of promoting industry in the State. One can even say, using the route of dialectics, that a contradiction has sprung up from the run-up to farming progress, which needs to be resolved keeping the long-term economic development of the people of the State in mind.

Put plainly, industry cannot be sacrificed to the “land argument” being currently put forward by some sections of West Bengal society, and there is clearly a need of a “synthesis” being developed in the interests of the average citizen.

What the “synthesis” will be is up to the policy-makers, both within the Government and the Opposition parties. The point being sought to be emphasised here is that everything must be done to promote the industrial development of West Bengal, a State which already has the advantage of having a strong agriculture base.

It would be a tragedy of the first order if the Singur plant falls victim to electoral politics, the consequences of which will have to be borne by the people, the so-called “land-losers” included.

RANABIR RAY CHOUDHURY

More Stories on : Economy | View Point | West Bengal

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