SANJAY BASAK finds out how the West Bengal CM faltered, and almost tripped, while running on the reforms’ road. And now, he has decided to take the bull by the horn
Only a few months back, West Bengal was burning.
From Nandigram to Ketugram, hundreds of houses were razed to the ground. While some of the people fell to police bullets, others were burnt alive or hacked to death by the red ‘Marxist’ brigade. The most progressive face in India’s Marxist history, CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was compared to the Chinese Premier, Deng Xiaoping, for his reforms, reverted back to a seemingly-dictatorial image of USSR’s Joseph Stalin.
Thanks to such tensions, governance, which was the key mantra until recently, has come to a standstill in West Bengal. Yet, when Buddhadeb took charge, he moved swiftly to change the skyline of Bengal, plagued by strikes and lack of development. His closest ally, Bengal’s industry minister, Nirupom Sen, had then told this correspondent, “The time has come to move forward.” And Bengal did start running.
But the journey to push Bengal up the industrialisation ladder wasn’t easy. The CM initially faced opposition from within his cadre. The most powerful trade union, CPI(M) affiliated CITU, rose against reforms. And the all-powerful party politburo frowned upon them. The electoral and ideological allies of the CPI(M), CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP were jolted by the speed at which the new CM rushed to make Bengal a ‘Shilpabandhu’ (industry friendly) state.
For example, Buddhadeb wanted to eliminate trade unionism in the IT sector. He indicated that if the IT employees wanted “to resort to strikes, they have to abide by the rules of the Essential Services Act.” The move rang alarm bells. The first one to raise his voice against it was the sports minister, Subhash Chakraborty, an arch rival of the CM, and he threatened to form unions. CITU remained firm too. Despite the former CM Jyoti Basu’s backing, nothing has been formalised till date.
The second hurdle for Buddhadeb was over Tata’s plan to set up a car factory in Singur, the first mega step to make Bengal an industry friendly state. Although Singur burnt due to local and political opposition, the CM backed the Tatas to the hilt. But the trade unions are still unhappy. Says M.K. Pandhe, CITU’s boss, “Our experience with the Tatas is not very pleasant. Outside Bengal, they are used to captive trade unions. We are not going to allow this in Bengal. If Tatas try a similar thing, we will not keep quiet.”
Pandhe refused to comment on the role of Buddhadeb in this issue, saying that “if I have to say anything about him, I will raise it at the party forum.” He, however, indicated that CITU wanted Bengal to be ‘workers’ friendly, not ‘industry’ friendly.” Recently, CITU submitted a memorandum on rampant “violation of labour laws in the state, not merely in the IT sector but also with regard to minimum wages and industrial disputes. Warns Pandhe, “Just because it’s a Left Front government, we will not keep quiet.”
Speaking to the media a few months ago, Buddhadeb said that “unfortunately, some of our friends fail to understand the situation. They don’t have the vision. They feel we have achieved enough.” The CM was referring to the attitudes of the trade unions, and electoral partners, who too have been against the CM’s “unilateral decisions on the issue of industrialisation.” The RSP MP, Abani Roy, flayed the CPI(M) for “ignoring the front partners.” He explains, “The blue print for industrialisation was expected to be discussed at a Left Front committee.”
However, Buddhadeb has continued to push ahead with his initiatives. Remarks a CPI(M) politburo member, “In recent times, West Bengal has managed to pool in big ticket investments in IT and steel sectors.” The CM has announced that Rs.90,000 crore would be invested in the state’s industrial sector to tackle the worsening unemployment problem. Pandhe agrees: “We realise that Bengal needs industries to tackle the issue. But social justice cannot be sacrificed.”
Only a few months back, West Bengal was burning.
From Nandigram to Ketugram, hundreds of houses were razed to the ground. While some of the people fell to police bullets, others were burnt alive or hacked to death by the red ‘Marxist’ brigade. The most progressive face in India’s Marxist history, CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was compared to the Chinese Premier, Deng Xiaoping, for his reforms, reverted back to a seemingly-dictatorial image of USSR’s Joseph Stalin.Thanks to such tensions, governance, which was the key mantra until recently, has come to a standstill in West Bengal. Yet, when Buddhadeb took charge, he moved swiftly to change the skyline of Bengal, plagued by strikes and lack of development. His closest ally, Bengal’s industry minister, Nirupom Sen, had then told this correspondent, “The time has come to move forward.” And Bengal did start running.
But the journey to push Bengal up the industrialisation ladder wasn’t easy. The CM initially faced opposition from within his cadre. The most powerful trade union, CPI(M) affiliated CITU, rose against reforms. And the all-powerful party politburo frowned upon them. The electoral and ideological allies of the CPI(M), CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP were jolted by the speed at which the new CM rushed to make Bengal a ‘Shilpabandhu’ (industry friendly) state.
For example, Buddhadeb wanted to eliminate trade unionism in the IT sector. He indicated that if the IT employees wanted “to resort to strikes, they have to abide by the rules of the Essential Services Act.” The move rang alarm bells. The first one to raise his voice against it was the sports minister, Subhash Chakraborty, an arch rival of the CM, and he threatened to form unions. CITU remained firm too. Despite the former CM Jyoti Basu’s backing, nothing has been formalised till date.
The second hurdle for Buddhadeb was over Tata’s plan to set up a car factory in Singur, the first mega step to make Bengal an industry friendly state. Although Singur burnt due to local and political opposition, the CM backed the Tatas to the hilt. But the trade unions are still unhappy. Says M.K. Pandhe, CITU’s boss, “Our experience with the Tatas is not very pleasant. Outside Bengal, they are used to captive trade unions. We are not going to allow this in Bengal. If Tatas try a similar thing, we will not keep quiet.”
Pandhe refused to comment on the role of Buddhadeb in this issue, saying that “if I have to say anything about him, I will raise it at the party forum.” He, however, indicated that CITU wanted Bengal to be ‘workers’ friendly, not ‘industry’ friendly.” Recently, CITU submitted a memorandum on rampant “violation of labour laws in the state, not merely in the IT sector but also with regard to minimum wages and industrial disputes. Warns Pandhe, “Just because it’s a Left Front government, we will not keep quiet.”
Speaking to the media a few months ago, Buddhadeb said that “unfortunately, some of our friends fail to understand the situation. They don’t have the vision. They feel we have achieved enough.” The CM was referring to the attitudes of the trade unions, and electoral partners, who too have been against the CM’s “unilateral decisions on the issue of industrialisation.” The RSP MP, Abani Roy, flayed the CPI(M) for “ignoring the front partners.” He explains, “The blue print for industrialisation was expected to be discussed at a Left Front committee.”
However, Buddhadeb has continued to push ahead with his initiatives. Remarks a CPI(M) politburo member, “In recent times, West Bengal has managed to pool in big ticket investments in IT and steel sectors.” The CM has announced that Rs.90,000 crore would be invested in the state’s industrial sector to tackle the worsening unemployment problem. Pandhe agrees: “We realise that Bengal needs industries to tackle the issue. But social justice cannot be sacrificed.”
Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus
Top Articles on IIPM:-
IIPM makes business education truly global-Education-The Times of ...
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
No comments:
Post a Comment