While West Bengal is trying to shed its image as a laggard and catch up with other states in terms of economic activity, the enthusiasm shown by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and some of the ministers in his cabinet does not seem to have rubbed off on the ‘babus’ of the Marxist government.
According to a report compiled by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Ernst & Young, only 15 per cent of the first-generation entrepreneurs surveyed in and around Kolkata feel that officials in government departments are efficient. Around 70 per cent of the respondents have been returned by some department and asked to come back again.
“They (government officials) are either inefficient or unnecessarily delay the work, or work only after being given a consideration to do so,” stated the report.
According to the data, of the 70 per cent that were asked to come back later by the officials, 72 per cent were returned more than twice, two per cent were returned twice, 13 per cent were returned once, and only 13 per cent got their work done the first time.
When the respondents were asked about the departments that returned them more than twice, the department of commercial taxes led the pack, followed by the pollution control board and the licenses department.
According to the respondents, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) was the most preferred department when it came to satisfaction after interaction with entrepreneurs. However, some felt that the department needed to improve its focus on the small and medium sector so that they can grow and become large indigenous industries of West Bengal.
“It is a matter of huge concern and we would surely take it up with the government,” said the eastern region chairman of the CII, Biswadip Gupta.
He said that though large industries had engaged the government and obtained excellent results, there was a possibility that SMEs were not treated in the same way. Offering an explanation for the trend, Gupta said that it was probably because many might not have known the right people to approach for a purpose.
When asked about the possible extent of corruption among government officials, Gupta replied, “Corruption is there in every state.”
Sumit Dabriwala, the managing director of Riverbank Holdings Pvt Ltd, said: “We should not read too much into it. At the end of the day it is about individuals. You would always find people who are less efficient than others.”
Commerce and industries minister Nirupam Sen admitted that there was a lot of room for improvement in the way the bureaucracy functioned, especially at the lower ranks. “There is a lot of scope for improvement and we are also trying to use e-governance for this. We are very concerned about this and there is a lot more to do,” said Sen.