Industrial Investment
1. Mamata brought the huge Tata industrial house to Court fighting for land taken away by her government earlier leased out to the Tatas by the previous government. Industry circles did not believe that she could do this to keep her promise to take legislative and administrative actions to return lands acquired forcibly from unwilling farmer-owners. The opposition and some experts term this action as unconstitutional, futile and unfriendly to industry. Tatas however did not think it proper to proactively pursue a path of negotiated settlement.
The industrialists are as yet ignoring the writing on the Wall: if governments start responding to people’s demand for stopping oppression, Indian industrial promoters and investors will have to adapt to the new environment if they do not wish to lose grounds to the some of the cash-rich public sector firms and foreign-collaboration players..
2. She has stopped govt. acquisition of land for new and expansion projects of private industrial sector and finalized legislative boll to provide for a fair and transparent method of land purchases by industry for their projects – the bill is probably awaiting the proposed Central government legislation to be passed first in the Parliament. Industry still is clinging to the idea of Government acquiring land for them and not yet responded in Mamata’s offer of land already available from the State’s Land Bank. Critics and the opposition point out the contradiction between Mamata’s emphasis on industrialization and her land acquisition policy. So, no one expects much industrial investment in the State.
It is better to go beyond all this and see the emerging writings on the Wall: industrialists and businessmen all over India will have to face the challenge of purchasing land on their own initiative and at the opportunity costs rather than costs based on ruling prices in the imperfect land market in India. If local industry owners cannot take up the challenge, the cash-rich sections of the public sector and foreign-collaboration investment players will.
Investing in Hospitals
3. Her action to arrest seven promoter/ owner directors of the AMRI hospital whose south Kolkata unit happen to witness nearly 100 hospitalised patients and hospital workers getting killed in the fire that broke-out in a few hours after midnight on a day in December 2011. Clearly, these directors were not running the hospital on a day to day basis for being held responsible for a fire accident. There are several non-owner directors including the managing director – mostly professionally reputed doctors, who have not been arrested. This has given rise to an allegation of discrimination against Marwari industrialists who have been in West Bengal for a few centuries and owners of much of the State’s industries. Intellectuals and elite class fear that such arrests would unnerve the industrialists and thus adversely affect indstrial investment activity. Everyone knows that the Indian system is biassed against alleged criminals so far as pre-trial judicial custody is concered if the police desires such detention for investigations. Everyone knows that these directors may have been a victim of public outcry against mis-management of private hospitals often resorting to over-charging and unruly para-medical staff. And, there is always the suspicion that some owner directors control capital investnment decision making. The injustice done in arresting owner-directos may noy cut ice in public perception as being discriminatory on a racial basis. The arrested directors may get released soon and may not be found guilty of criminal neglect of the fire safety system in the hospital. It would then prove to be an unfortunate event drawining public sympathies then.
But, during the process opf investigations and trial, the way private hospitals are run will come under closer scrutiny of the public at large raising issues of standards of hospital services, hospital maintenance and overcharging of patients. It is better to see the emerging writings on the Wall: hospital regulations are going to be tougher inWest Bengal and businessmen may find it difficult to manipulate regulators and run businesses by keeping the guns on the shoulders of professionals and technocrats. We know the verdict in the Bhopal Gas case and the impact will be felt by all industries including hospitals throughout India
But, during the process opf investigations and trial, the way private hospitals are run will come under closer scrutiny of the public at large raising issues of standards of hospital services, hospital maintenance and overcharging of patients. It is better to see the emerging writings on the Wall: hospital regulations are going to be tougher in
Uninstalling Political Software from Education
4. Mamata has undertaken various steps including legislative and administrative actions to reverse the trend of politicization of education, political party control over educational institutions and educators/ teachers and free educations institutions from following the path of mediocrity to pursuit of excellence. Though the attempts to reform both secondary and higher education as well as in the system of governance of universities have been dubbed as Trinamoolisation or Mamataisation of education, there is hardly any scope for education to go downhill in terms of quality with any reform. Continuation of the inherited systems can hold back education in West Bengal at the current dismal state and should be replaced.
5. But more worrying is the continuing incidence of violence by politically-affiliated students. There is no reform on the cards that would stop the use of the campuses as incubators of political party activists and leaders: students willing to take risk of using muscle power and aspiring to be political party leaders and ministers in future will continue to capture the campuses to gain access to substantial funds of colleges allocate for student union activities. The student union elections have over the past few decades have therefore become violent warfare among different factions sponsored by different political parties: even the teachers have joined the political rivalry for power and influence in the academic institutions. All of them, the rowdy elements among the students including those who want to enjoy political power, have ruined the academic environment. Any attempt to reform this would be challenged by the political parties including the ruling Trinamool party that has been involved in major incidents of campus violence in the recent weeks.
6. So far, Mamata’s administration and police have not been proactive enough to nip the attack of politically sponsored hooliganism in educational institutions. The discriminatory treatment of arrestimg alleged offenders reportedly belonging to opposition party activists with non-baiable chaerges in one case of campus violence and of arresting alleged offenders reportedly belonging to ruling party is another issue that maybe corected soon under public pressure. But aii this has raised several concerns about the ability of Mamata to bring about a change in the academic environment and the required cleansing operations to weed out campyus violence and political influence. Political parties in the Left front as well as the Congress may like to exploit the chaos in the campuses and hope to exploit the students to stall government efforts at educational reforms: political clashes may draw the ruling Trinamool Congress supporters to intensify the chaos acting in retaliation. The political party sponsored campus violence may prepare them fight better in the next round of panchayat and Parliamentary elections. Beyond appealing to students and teachers to keep away from campus violence, Mamata’ Govt. may not be able to do anything strong and effective on its own in protecting campuses from student violence.
7. But, it is better for everyone to see the emerging Writing on the Wall. Using the campuses for student violence for political businesses is going to be increasingly difficult. First, the mood of the citizens is turning against political parties getting entry into the campuses – if for nothing else but for safety of their children. Second, the police are under pressure to become proactive as well as unbiassed in protecting peace in the campuses. Third, the overwhelming majority of students in cities and towns are already showing their anger against political parties exerting influence inside campuses. Fourth, judicial activism based on public interest litigation may soon come out strongly against violence in campuses that could make political parties/ leaders accountable and punishable for sponsoring or aiding students’ violence on the campuses. The political parties and leaders may have to change their existing style of operation in using the campuses for their political ends..
Federalism & Coalition Politics in Focus
8. In the short period of just seven moths Mamata has been seen as confronting the Central Government and her leading partner, Congress Party, in the UPA Coalition. She has effectively stalled the proposed sharing of West Bengal’s Teesta River Water with Bangladesh, the passing of the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha, fare and tariff hike of the Railways, and negotiated changes in the proposed Land Acquisition Bill to be placed in the Parliament. so on. All this has been dubbed as whimsical Mamata tantrums. But if one would go beyond the particular issues, one could see that as a Coalition partner she is demanding adequate discussions to develop consensus in Central Government policy-making and as a Chief Minister of a State, she is demanding halt to any overt/ covert central government attempt to interfere with the powers of the State governments. Her stance may be embarrassing for the Government led by Prime Minister and the Congress Party but the State chief ministers and other coalition partners seem to be appreciating Mamata’s stance. It is better to recongnise the emerging writing on the Wall: Centre will have to change the existing style of taking liberty in interpreting the Constitutionally recognized powers of the State Government and the Coalition leader will have to stop counting on easy deals with partners into agreeing to all kinds of policy changes and administrative actions. Federalism and coalition politics is in for a radical change.
While the Congress Party seems to be in a mood to confront Mamata on a number of issues, it is easy to see that they are still counting on easy trade-off deals with Mamata’s Trinamool Congress. They have started agitation against Trinamool for its alleged violence against Congress supporters in many rural areas and college campuses in the same manner as the CPM has been doing after Trinamool came into power. They are unable to see how Mamata has taken the wind out of CPM’s anti-Trinamool Terrorism campaign sail within a few months. The Congress Party has raised issue about changing the name of Indira Bhavan to Kazi Nazrul Research Centre: Mamata can easily convert the situation to her advantage by locating the Kazi Nazrul Research Institute at the Indira Bhavan, earlier used by the CPM government to provide a residence to the former chief minister Jyoti Basu till he died in 2010. He will get strong support from the minorities, the anti-CPM rule led by late Jyoti Basu while showing that the Indira Bhavan remains as Indira Bhavan. The coalition politics game is in for change in deference to Mamata’s apparent whimsical decisions. Whether or not Mamata will succeed as a Chief Minister of West Bengal is irrelevant: her apparently whimsical decisions will have stirred the nature of political activity and coalition politics sufficiently strongly to cause change.
9. West Bengal is set on a path of long-drwan battle for changes despite resistance put up by vested interests including pro status quo political parties and thier sponsored rowdy outfits. So, the change process will be painful. It does look like that the citizens in general ae willing to face the pains to enable change to establish itself rather than support any kind of political opposition to changes. People know what they mean by changes: they know that the change is not a mere replacement of one political part by another for forming governments. Political parties may better change themselves rather than trying to resist the changes. West Bengal has been waiting for.
