If West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has her way, the state government will soon have its own newspaper and television channel, both called Paschim Banga. After being in the Opposition for years, sniping at the Left, Mamata Banerjee isn?t used to being criticised, and has seen a ?conspiracy? in every anti-establishment report. She said news items were maligning her government instead of highlighting ?our good work? and so the need to launch ?our own TV channel and newspaper?.
But will that quell all the voices of dissent or the discontent that is simmering in the cities and villages? Will that help to understand a state government that is increasingly speaking in circles on the most important issues troubling the state (finance, industry, law and order, health, education etc)?
Last week when Mamata walked 6.5 km from Asutosh College in the south to Rajabazar in central Kolkata to celebrate a year of her party in power, the crowds weren?t overwhelming. It was a far cry from the euphoria that was evident during her padayatras in the run-up to her entry into the Writer?s Buildings, the state secretariat, last year.
Over the past few days, the Trinamool Congress has published a booklet listing its achievements, prompting the Left to publish another booklet countering the Trinamool claims. So, what has Trinamool achieved in its year in power? Depends who you are putting the question to.
But even a diehard Trinamool supporter will admit that many things remain unresolved from Singur to Darjeeling, though she has managed to bring a semblance of normalcy to Maoist-hit Lalgarh. The state government is yet to come out with a suitable land acquisition policy, so there?s no spurt in industrial activity that the people had hoped for with a change in government. There?s already a rumble at the grassroots?the Trinamool’s key constituency?that after coming to power, Mamata hasn?t really kept her promises. In the agriculture sector, many things have gone wrong in the past year; topping the list is the state government?s bungling in paddy and potato pricing. Failing to get a good price for both crops, farmers shied away from farming paddy and potato in several areas this year, the impact of which will be felt in full force next year.
At the heart of Bengal?s woes is its financial health. Inheriting a debt of R2 lakh crore from the Left, which has since increased, the Trinamool, a key partner of the UPA-2 government at the Centre, has been crying hoarse that the Centre hasn?t done enough to bail it out financially. The Trinamool members have petitioned the Centre many times for help and Mamata herself met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 4 to demand a three-year moratorium on interest payment. ?We are annually paying interest of R21,000 crore while our income is R22,000 crore,? Banerjee says repeatedly.
But it?s also a fact that she is averse to raising taxes to widen the revenue base. In the state Budget announced in March, there were hardly any new taxes to mop up revenues. She has also clashed with the Centre several times on these lines, even forcing a roll-back of rail fare hikes and resisting all fuel price hikes. The second largest constituent of UPA-2 has protested against any reformist measure like FDI in retail; and has refused to support the Centre on the National Counter Terrorism Centre or the sharing of Teesta waters. It is believed that both FDI and Teesta came up during her meeting with the US secretary of state Hillary Clinton to the state on May 7, a high point of Mamata?s one year in power.
Whatever the state government?s claims, there has been a visible breakdown in the law and order machinery and college campuses are on the boil again with the Trinamool unions clashing with teachers on a regular basis. Though in the 168-page glossy Promises Delivered, the Trinamool government highlights 5,000 jobs for Adivasis, other rural development schemes and so forth as achievements, and thought the Mamata government has announced many jobs, schemes but all this is without factoring in the financial considerations. In a debt-wracked state, the government has obviously failed to follow through with its promises on many counts.
It has been a sweltering summer so far, with temperatures touching 40 degrees Celsius without sign of a nor?wester or rain. If the state has had fewer power cuts, the joke doing the rounds is that it must be thanks to slack industrial activity, not refurbished power utilities that couldn?t raise tariffs for much of last year due to Mamata. There have been no big-ticket investments in the state. Two assured investments?Infosys for its first campus and Wipro for its second?now hang in a limbo because the state doesn?t want to give them SEZ status. Two more?JSW?s ambitious Salboni plant and CESC?s Balagarh power plant?investments that will attract more than R10,000 crore each are also stuck. While JSW wants iron-ore linkage before it starts the project, CESC wants an assurance on coal. There have been few assurances from the government on industry, apart from whimsical promises. Even on how Kolkata should ?look?, Mamata Banerjee dithered, first choosing green (the preferred Trinamool colour) for all sidewalks and public fences before opting for a ?neutral? blue, which hasn?t really got the artist in every Bengali excited.
sudipta.datta@expressindia.com
