03-22-2007, 08:05 PM
<b>The Road to the tragedy of Nandigram</b>
<b>
Introduction</b>
What is the issue in Nandigram? Why did Buddhadeb unleash CPIM cadres and the
police on Nandigram? Would a Special Economic Zone help or hinder the
development in Nandigram? Many questions are being asked but no one seems to
be giving any credible answer. So I decided to give my understanding of the
situation. I will first give the financial situation in West Bengal (WB) on
the eve of the retirement of that arch criminal Jyoti Basu (You will
understand why I consider him the arch wrecker of West Bengal after reading
through this article) and also its evolution. I will then discuss the strategy
adopted by Buddhadeb to rescue the sinking ship and where he went wrong. I
will also point out an easy way to fix the problem.
<b>
West Bengal fiscal situation</b>
TABLE: West Bengal Goverment finances
(All figures are in crores of Rupees)
Year Income Expenditure Deficit SDP Deficit as
% of SDP
2001 5,500 20,500 -15,000 162,000 -9.2 %
2002 6,050 21,250 -15,200 173,300 -8.8 %
2003 6,655 22,900 -16,245 185,470 -8.8 %
2004 7,320 24,100 -16,780 198,450 -8.5 %
2005 8,780 25,300 -16,516 214,334 -7.7 %
2006 10,541 26,500 -15,959 231,480 -6.9 %
2007 13,387 27,700 -14,313 252,313 -5.7 %
2008 17,000 29,000 -12,000 275,000 -4.4 %
SDP stands for State Domestic Product. The 2008 figures are estimates.
If you scan the table, you can see the condition of WB Govt finances just
at the time Jyoti Basu (JB) retired. WB Govt was earning Rs 5 for every
Rs 20 it was spending. The budget deficit has ballooned to - 9% of the
State Domestic Product. No Govt can last long with this kind of deficit.
<b>The reasons for the disaster under JB</b>
Why did the Govt finances deteriorate so much under the "able stewardship"
of that criminal JB. It did because JB tripled the salaries of state Govt
workers and shut down the industrial machine. No economy can take this kind
of lunatic economic policy and survive. WB govt finances also didn't. People
ask me sometimes the reasons for the reintroduction of capitalism by Buddhadeb
in 2000-2001. Just look at the table, The answer is staring at us - either
capitalism or bankruptcy. Even Communists do not like bankruptcy.
<b>Buddhadeb's strategy</b>
Buddhadeb was very lucky that the IT sector was just starting to grow at about
the same time. Also in the 1997-2001 period there were heated discussions
in soc.culture.indian and soc.culture.bengali on the decline of WB. It was
suggested in those discussions that the way out of disaster was
(1) to restore work ethic,
(2) to invite investments, both foreign and domestic,
(3) to strengthen the educational infrastructure,
(4) to strengthen the health infrastructure,
(5) to build roads, ports, airports, power and other infrastructure,
(6) to build 300-400 towns all over WB with adequate infrastructure, and
(7) to aggressively encourage IT.
(You will easily find some of those discussions if you search for them.)
Someone (I know the name of that person but will not reveal it) brought the
suggestions in soc.culture.bengali and .indian to Buddhadeb's attention.
Buddhadeb has been implementing those suggestions ever since he came to power.
Of course, he is not telling anyone the source of his ideas and so I see
many speculations about where he got these ideas.
<b>SEZs in general and Nandigram in particular</b>
Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are necessary to quickly jump start the
economy by dealing with points 5 and 6 of the program outlined above.
So now let us discuss about Nandigram. Nandigram is a very poor area whose
people come to Kolkata for sustenance. WB govt spends about Rs 4 crores for
the 100,000 people living in 19,000 acres of Nandigram. The Salem project
was about building a city of the size of Chandigarh (about 10,000 acres) in
Nandigra, Salem would be spending about Rs 20,000 crores in the area (compared
to Rs 4 crore by WB govt and the total Rs 29,000 crores by West Bengal Govt
for the entire state. It is a no-brainer that Nandigram and its people would
have been a gainer. West Bengal would have obtained a spanking new city in
Southern Bengal and lot more people would have joined the middle classes.
<b>What went wrong?</b>
Why did Buddhadeb let loose a joint force of CPIM cadres and police on
Nandigram. Buddhadeb is not an original thinker. His current strategy is not
his own but taken from internet sites. So he goes by what others tell him.
Buddhadeb was advised by CPIM leaders that the best strategy is to use police
to scatter the people and then use the cadres to pacify the area. Then they
can use the cadres to get the land and give it to Salem. Even though people
will suffer now, ultimately people of Nandigram will gain. Also CPIM will be
able to retake the area from Ms Mamata. So they will get 2 birds by one
stone. That such a strategy was accepted by Buddhadeb shows the deeply
undemocratic nature of the CPIM leaders. The strategy failed because unlike
in Singur Buddhadeb was facing muslims and also more people. Singur has only
about 2000-3000 disgruntled people while in Nandigram they number in tens of
thousands.
<b>What should be done?</b>
Such strong arm tactics,as adopted in Singur and Nandigram, would not work in
West Bengal. People are aware of their rights and there is some democracy
inspite of the murderous CPIM cadres and the callous, undemocratic CPIM
leaders. <b>Capitalism can not be reintroduced in WB on the cheap. People would
have to be bought out.</b> Buddhadeb should offer the affected families in
Nandigram an yearly sum of Rs 50,000 per family. This sum will be paid as long
as the affected families can not get other sources of income. It will cost
about Rs 500 crores per year initially. This cost will go down as these
affected families get jobs in the Salem project. This sum of money will not
break the WB govt finances. WB govt should impose a 5 % reduction in various
expenditure to get this money. This little expenditure would more than be
made up by the revenues from a brand new town.
<b>
Introduction</b>
What is the issue in Nandigram? Why did Buddhadeb unleash CPIM cadres and the
police on Nandigram? Would a Special Economic Zone help or hinder the
development in Nandigram? Many questions are being asked but no one seems to
be giving any credible answer. So I decided to give my understanding of the
situation. I will first give the financial situation in West Bengal (WB) on
the eve of the retirement of that arch criminal Jyoti Basu (You will
understand why I consider him the arch wrecker of West Bengal after reading
through this article) and also its evolution. I will then discuss the strategy
adopted by Buddhadeb to rescue the sinking ship and where he went wrong. I
will also point out an easy way to fix the problem.
<b>
West Bengal fiscal situation</b>
TABLE: West Bengal Goverment finances
(All figures are in crores of Rupees)
Year Income Expenditure Deficit SDP Deficit as
% of SDP
2001 5,500 20,500 -15,000 162,000 -9.2 %
2002 6,050 21,250 -15,200 173,300 -8.8 %
2003 6,655 22,900 -16,245 185,470 -8.8 %
2004 7,320 24,100 -16,780 198,450 -8.5 %
2005 8,780 25,300 -16,516 214,334 -7.7 %
2006 10,541 26,500 -15,959 231,480 -6.9 %
2007 13,387 27,700 -14,313 252,313 -5.7 %
2008 17,000 29,000 -12,000 275,000 -4.4 %
SDP stands for State Domestic Product. The 2008 figures are estimates.
If you scan the table, you can see the condition of WB Govt finances just
at the time Jyoti Basu (JB) retired. WB Govt was earning Rs 5 for every
Rs 20 it was spending. The budget deficit has ballooned to - 9% of the
State Domestic Product. No Govt can last long with this kind of deficit.
<b>The reasons for the disaster under JB</b>
Why did the Govt finances deteriorate so much under the "able stewardship"
of that criminal JB. It did because JB tripled the salaries of state Govt
workers and shut down the industrial machine. No economy can take this kind
of lunatic economic policy and survive. WB govt finances also didn't. People
ask me sometimes the reasons for the reintroduction of capitalism by Buddhadeb
in 2000-2001. Just look at the table, The answer is staring at us - either
capitalism or bankruptcy. Even Communists do not like bankruptcy.
<b>Buddhadeb's strategy</b>
Buddhadeb was very lucky that the IT sector was just starting to grow at about
the same time. Also in the 1997-2001 period there were heated discussions
in soc.culture.indian and soc.culture.bengali on the decline of WB. It was
suggested in those discussions that the way out of disaster was
(1) to restore work ethic,
(2) to invite investments, both foreign and domestic,
(3) to strengthen the educational infrastructure,
(4) to strengthen the health infrastructure,
(5) to build roads, ports, airports, power and other infrastructure,
(6) to build 300-400 towns all over WB with adequate infrastructure, and
(7) to aggressively encourage IT.
(You will easily find some of those discussions if you search for them.)
Someone (I know the name of that person but will not reveal it) brought the
suggestions in soc.culture.bengali and .indian to Buddhadeb's attention.
Buddhadeb has been implementing those suggestions ever since he came to power.
Of course, he is not telling anyone the source of his ideas and so I see
many speculations about where he got these ideas.
<b>SEZs in general and Nandigram in particular</b>
Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are necessary to quickly jump start the
economy by dealing with points 5 and 6 of the program outlined above.
So now let us discuss about Nandigram. Nandigram is a very poor area whose
people come to Kolkata for sustenance. WB govt spends about Rs 4 crores for
the 100,000 people living in 19,000 acres of Nandigram. The Salem project
was about building a city of the size of Chandigarh (about 10,000 acres) in
Nandigra, Salem would be spending about Rs 20,000 crores in the area (compared
to Rs 4 crore by WB govt and the total Rs 29,000 crores by West Bengal Govt
for the entire state. It is a no-brainer that Nandigram and its people would
have been a gainer. West Bengal would have obtained a spanking new city in
Southern Bengal and lot more people would have joined the middle classes.
<b>What went wrong?</b>
Why did Buddhadeb let loose a joint force of CPIM cadres and police on
Nandigram. Buddhadeb is not an original thinker. His current strategy is not
his own but taken from internet sites. So he goes by what others tell him.
Buddhadeb was advised by CPIM leaders that the best strategy is to use police
to scatter the people and then use the cadres to pacify the area. Then they
can use the cadres to get the land and give it to Salem. Even though people
will suffer now, ultimately people of Nandigram will gain. Also CPIM will be
able to retake the area from Ms Mamata. So they will get 2 birds by one
stone. That such a strategy was accepted by Buddhadeb shows the deeply
undemocratic nature of the CPIM leaders. The strategy failed because unlike
in Singur Buddhadeb was facing muslims and also more people. Singur has only
about 2000-3000 disgruntled people while in Nandigram they number in tens of
thousands.
<b>What should be done?</b>
Such strong arm tactics,as adopted in Singur and Nandigram, would not work in
West Bengal. People are aware of their rights and there is some democracy
inspite of the murderous CPIM cadres and the callous, undemocratic CPIM
leaders. <b>Capitalism can not be reintroduced in WB on the cheap. People would
have to be bought out.</b> Buddhadeb should offer the affected families in
Nandigram an yearly sum of Rs 50,000 per family. This sum will be paid as long
as the affected families can not get other sources of income. It will cost
about Rs 500 crores per year initially. This cost will go down as these
affected families get jobs in the Salem project. This sum of money will not
break the WB govt finances. WB govt should impose a 5 % reduction in various
expenditure to get this money. This little expenditure would more than be
made up by the revenues from a brand new town.