The Hindu : National : In West Bengal, the Left plays the industry card

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Tuesday, Apr 11, 2006

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National

In West Bengal, the Left plays the industry card

The Left Front's poll plank highlights industrial gains as economic issues take centre stage, says Indrani Dutta

For many decades, intimidated by the combination of a Left government and perceived labour militancy, private industry steered clear of West Bengal. In these years, the State was known more for its gains on the farm front. Elections, then, were fought and won in the State on other issues: land reforms, agricultural policy, social welfare.

In a sign of the changing times, industrialisation and infrastructure development are now poised to feature prominently in the run-up to the Assembly elections in West Bengal. That may not come as a big surprise; but what's surprising is the manner in which matters such as shifting patterns of land use, job generation and income augmentation are becoming issues that may take centre stage in the battle-of-the-ballot.

Corporate majors within the country as well as multinationals are now singing hosannas to the State's leadership and this is the image that will be publicised in the elections. The image is that of an industry-friendly and `preferred destination' State, which the West Bengal Government has painstakingly rebuilt over the last few years, since the announcement of the new industrial policy in 1994 by the Jyoti Basu government.

The combined effect of a growing internal market and increased purchasing power (especially in the rural areas), coupled with the State's pool of skilled workers and its location gives West Bengal an edge which the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Government has now begun capitalising on, aggressively, wooing private capital — both domestic and FDI — to turn round the State's industrial fortunes.

Thus, construction of major roads, setting up of new townships, increased power generation with improved transmission, granting of special incentives for investment in backward areas, form part of the CPI (M) poll plank.

Alongside, the State Government is also trying to refashion its position to project the picture of a State, which is now consolidating on the gains made on the rural front while looking ahead to build an industrialised State. In line with an earlier slogan coined by the State industry department to hard sell the State — `Destination Bengal' — it is a Bengal where farm outputs are high and land reforms are in place. `Agriculture is our foundation and industry is the way ahead' says a new slogan painted on State buses and tramcars.

With land reforms being the basic tenet, the West Bengal Government has sought to dovetail the improved rural scenario with the increased demand for industrial goods (rural markets is the mantra of multinationals too). Industrial projects, for which foundations stones were laid in the days before the announcement of the poll schedule, stress the rural market for products rolling out of the factories.

For decades, West Bengal has been the country's top producer of food grains such as paddy besides some varieties of vegetables.

Many feared that agro-production and the gains made would take a hit due to the aggressive pace of industrialisation. But statistics show that although the area under cultivation of some crops has dropped slightly, the yield has been higher leading to increased production in the main crops like rice.

The State Government feels that these numbers could be jacked up further, so as to bring a balance between production of staple crops and vegetables, fruits and flowers, which yield better value with good employment linkages too.

If the high-tech Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd was showcased during the last Assembly elections, this time round the emphasis is on setting up major manufacturing industries in the districts. Visible projects with sizeable employment potential, technical training institutes which would help train locals, improving their chances of finding jobs, obviously score over high-tech IT and service sector projects. Today, the Ambani brothers, the Tatas and overseas majors are all knocking on the doors of a State they had earlier given a go-by or at best, an askance look.

The poll plank of the ruling Left Front thus highlights the industrial gains but seeks to put a human face to the process.

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