West Bengal Left Front Government Safeguards The Interests of the People: Buddhadeb

ON the 30th anniversary


of the West Bengal


Left Front government,


the chief minister


Buddhadeb


Bhattacharjee


spoke at length to


Ganashakti.

Excerpts follow:

ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ELECTORAL TRIUMPH
The electoral verdict of the people is quite clear. The earlier two-thirds majority is now converted, thanks to the people’s verdict, to a three-fourths majority in the Bengal Assembly. We are determined to respect the choice that the people have exercised. We must implement our programme in the rigours of specificity and make the government function in an improved manner and with swiftness.

The continuity of success of the Bengal Left Front in elections and the absence of the anti-incumbency factor here is a rare event replete with political significance. Yet, Bengal is not bereft of the national-level problems and dysfunctionalities plaguing the nation per se.

Unemployment bothers Bengal as it does the rest of India. There is no power supply in 20 per cent of the Bengal villages and hamlets. Road conditions are not ideal. Some amount of problem continues in the health sector, we know. Certainly, these constraints would give rise to the strain of anti-incumbency.

How do we tackle the issue? Well, thanks to the massive waves of organised peasant movements and struggles, the correlation of proprietor ship of the agricultural land parcels have changed, in manner that would allow us to resist and overcome the gusts of anti-incumbency often fomented across the state.

LAND AND LAND REFORMS

You will recall that the land movement in Bengal started with the historic Tebhaga movement. During the all-too-brief tenures of the UF governments in the late 1960’s, an organised peasant movement was able to take over large chunks of illegally-possessed and ceiling-surplus land reposed among the jotdars-zamindars of this state.

Land was occupied and tilled with the ubiquitous plough by the rural poor. Lives of kisans were sacrificed during this period. The zamindari juggernaut was finally stopped and successfully dismantled.

On assumption of office, the Left Front governments in succession established patta rights for the landless and thus provided the kisan with legal right on the land he possessed and tilled. The recording of barga has been an important component of the land movement. The khet mazdoors lead and participated in a strong movement in Bengal. Taken together, these factors have contributed to make correlation of political force come to such a pass that we are able, as I said to tackle and take care of any form of anti-incumbency.

POPULARITY

This indeed is the base of the political power of the Bengal Left Front. No force is able to dominate the rural poor who have stood up for their rights. This is due to the sweeping, redistributive land reforms that Bengal has witnessed. Bengal enjoys unprecedented success in agricultural production. 65 per cent of the people of the state are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture.

Another base for the Left Front is the popularity it has roused among the youth, and among the workers, the peasants, and in general amongst the rural and urban populace. The support has come up through the experience they have had of the pro-people governance of the Left Front governments in succession. The vast majority of the people of Bengal believe that there is no alternative to Left Front.

INTER-CONNECT BETWEEN LATIN AMERICA AND BENGAL
The situation evolving there in Latin America and here in Bengal is essentially different. Bengal is not a sovereign nation and has to work within the existing centre-state restrictive framework. But we do appreciate the alternative the Latin American countries have boldly put forward to neo-liberalism and globalisation.

British prime minister Margaret Thatcher once put out the slogan that there was no alternative to capitalism, acronymed as TINA or ‘There Is No Alternative.’ Latin America has proved that a viable alternative is very much there.

The Central Committee of the CPI(M) in discussing the developments in Latin American nations recently has noted the growth of the Bolivarian Alternative. The Central Committee will set up a Study Group to observe and analyse the happenings there. We shall identify the essence of Leftism prevailing in Latin America.

It is very important to note that the Latin American nations like Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Uruguay, Argentina, and Ecuador, among others, appear determined to be free of the political, economic, and military hegemony of the United States.

LIBERALISATION AND BENGAL LF GOVERNMENT’S ALTERNATIVE
We have attached topmost priority to the task of providing security to the people being marginalised by the so-called liberalisation. We strive for increasing employment opportunities and enhancing levels of income. We do not agree to the view that market economy will run the government. We are against the concept that market economy is omnipotent.

We believe that the inevitable result of market economy is to immiserise especially the poorer sections of the people. Our government intervenes to protect the poor in the face of the onslaught of liberalisation because we are a government of the Left persuasion.

As alternative, we call attention to land reforms. The land belongs to the poor in the villages – 72 per cent of the agricultural land is under the possession of the rural poor. The rural poor also lead the three-tier Panchayat system and a series of diverse schemes of rural development are implemented.

We also lay emphasis on industrialisation, and on the extension of industries and trade-and-commerce. We welcome foreign capital in the realm of higher technology and for employment generation, militating against the jobless growth affecting the developed capitalist nations.

In stressing employment generation, we highlight the small and medium industries. We want to make the self-help groups improved micro enterprises. The principal aim is to involve the backward sections of the people, and scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and women in economic activities.

Other alternatives include total literacy. We have created 68 thousand primary schools. We provide the salary and emoluments to the teachers, and we supply books and exercise books as well as mid-day meals to the students. Government hospitals take care of the treatment of 70 per cent of the ailing people as an alternative to the sweeping privatisation of health services elsewhere in the country.

We are determined to bring up the 20 per cent of the populace who remain below the poverty line. We have been working for the uplift of the poorer villages. We also look into the plight of the workers of closed factories. We provide them with stipends.

We have started Provident Fund benefits for workers in the unorganised sector. Construction workers have been provided with security. The Bengal Left Front government has initiated and unleashed these and other measures as an alternative to the so-called liberalism.

PEOPLE’S DEMOCRACY, July 02, 2006

THIRTY YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL LEFT FRONT RULE

30 YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL
LEFT FRONT RULE

M K Pandhe

On June 20th 2007 the Left Front Government completed 30 years of continuous rule defending the interests of the toiling people in West Bengal. Within the framework of the capitalist system, no party in India could overcome the anti-incumbency factor for such a long time in any state since independence. There is no example of any left party remaining in power in a province of any capitalist country in the world for such a long time.

This unique experience in West Bengal needs to be studied properly. Despite discrimination by the ruling party or combination of parties at the centre, the Left Front Govt. continued to develop the economy of the state despite all limitations of the capitalist system and made a mark of its own in the national situation. Defeating all conspiracies to topple down or weaken, the Left Front Govt. in West Bengal could raise its head high with the determined support of the people of the state.

Left Front Govt came into being in the process of prolonged struggles by Left forces with the people and for the cause of common people's life, livelihood and democratic rights. With "Operation Barga" it introduced genuine land reforms in the state for the first time in the country. Lakhs of share coppers got their right to till the land which resulted in remarkable improvement in agricultural productivity as well as expansion of rural market. Since it came into being in the process of struggle by the toiling people, people remained with Left Front and It has been the massive support of the rural masses that sustained the Left Front Government in Bengal for three decades, mocking at the lousy noise of so called "scientific rigging". The successful introduction of Panchayati Raj empowered the rural poor to have a role in developmental activities in the State. It cannot be a fault of the Left Front Government that the opposition parties could not get even candidate to contest election against the left front candidates in some places! The Panchayati Raj in Bengal even attracted some foreign countries who sent representatives to study the operation of the system in the State.

The total number of beneficiaries of agricultural land distributed among the land less in Bengal is now 29.14 lakh. The total number of recorded share croppers have now reached 15.08 lakh.
In a memorandum to the 53rd meeting of the National Development Council on Food and Agriculture held on May 29, 2007 at New Delhi the Govt. of West Bengal noted, "In our state, the total production of rice, despite the adverse effects of floods, has been estimated to reach 144 lakh tones in 2006-07, which is higher than the requirement of the State (presently 139.6 lakh MT) and West Bengal occupies the first position in the States in production of rice. Moreover, the production of potato is also estimated to reach 77 lakh MT which is again much higher than the requirement of the State (43.4 lakh MT) and in this regard the States position is second among the states. In addition the total production of vegetables is estimated to increase to 125 lakh MT which is substantially higher than the states requirement (86.7 lakh MT) and in this case also, West Bengal occupies the highest position among the States".

The Left Front Government came in a wake of several struggles conducted by the working class and the toiling masses in defence of their rights. With intensification of class struggles in West Bengal the ruling Congress launched a severe repression on the trade union and democratic movement in early seventies. During the semi-fascist terror launched by the Congress party more than 1200 trade union activists had to lay down their lives braving the attacks by the gangsters and police. Several thousands of activists were evicted from their residential areas and had to take shelter in far away places.

The holding of regular elections in all elective organizations/institutions ensured the democratic process to empower the people and gave them a voice to elect representatives of their choice. The left front Government proved its growing popularity not only in Assembly and Parliamentary polls but in Municipalities and Gram Panchayats. Despite attempts to form Mahajot combining all anti-Left forces, the left front Government continue to win support of the people in the State. The bankruptcy of the Congress policies in the state has brought its strength down to a lowest possible level. The Congress party which ruled the state for several years has become a smaller force than even the Trinamul Congress.

The Trinamul Congress with the backing of lumpen elements and financed by dubious sources has repeatedly tried to destabilize the Govt but failed miserably. Instead of achieving the dream of entering writers building Ms. Mamata Banerjee lost her support among the people. Her ranks are deserting her seeing her maverick policies which only is making her more violent and resorting to gangster methods to prevent further erosion. Her unreliable political behaviour is making her allies skeptical about her policies. The BJP got some foothold in Bengal due to Mamata Banerjee's support to the communal outfit. Within erosion of her own influence in the state politics BJP is facing difficulties to mark its presence in the state politics.

When the Left Front came to power the opposition combine and the press in Bengal initiated a virulent campaign that due to the role of CITU in the state, the industries would not come to invest in West Bengal. They also were campaigning about sickness of large number of companies in the state which they ascribed to the militant trade union movement in Bengal. As a matter of fact most of the units became sick during the Congress regime and refusal of the Central Government to give orders to public sector units in the State and their discriminatory policy against the state.

WHY INDUSTRIALISATION?

Decades of Congress rule brought in widespread industrial stagnation in West Bengal. On the eve of independence West Bengal was second in industrial development which came down fifth due to this policy. After achieving land reforms it was now an urgent task before the Left Front Govt. to develop industrial base and generate employment for lakhs of new entrants in the employment market. Public sector investment came to a standstill due to the policy of neoliberal globalization adopted by the Central Governments. Naturally private sector investment came to the forefront. With the lack of resources with the state Govt. which is further aggravating owing to neoliberal policies, the Left Front Government had to rely on private sector investment. However when the Government adopted a policy of encouraging new investment in the state, the opposition parties made a common cause to oppose every proposal for starting new industrial activities in the state. Singur and Nandigram became symbol of opposition parties' resistance to industrial development. The unfortunate police firing on March 14 at Nandigram was regretted by all and the West Bengal Govt. gave up the proposal to establish a chemical hub in Nandigram; but still the violent agitation continued and law and order was thrown overboard. The proposal of the Left Front Govt. to hold talks to work out consensus on issues of development is being turned down only to continue a situation of lawlessness in the state.

The people will have to counteract such disruptive move of the opposition parties who have made a common cause to create difficulties in the process of industrial development. We are confident that the people of West Bengal will defeat the game of Congress Trinamul Congress, extremists and BJP to obstruct the process of industrial development without affecting the agricultural development.

SECRET BALLOT FOR UNION RECONGNITION

While making serious effort for employment generating investments in the state, the Left front Government never hesitated in upholding the rights of the toiling people including right to organize and right to strike. It was the first Govt. to pass a legislation in the Legislative Assembly providing secret ballot for recognition of a union in the industry. The central Government took more than several years to endorse the Bill and obtain presidential assent to it.

Even now the central Government has not provided through legislation the right of workers to determine their representative union through the mechanism of secret ballot. The desire to impose scab unions on the working class by the management is still preventing such a legislation at the national level. The Govt. of West Bengal did this three decades ago and honoured the commitment given to the working class.

The scheme to pay Rs.500 rupees per month for 6 months for workers who became jobless due to closure of their unit is a pioneering scheme initiated by the left front Government. Despite severe financial constraints, the Left Front Govt introduced provident fund schemes for agricultural workers and unorganized sector workers. The provision of payment of contribution by the state Govt. to the lakhs of unorganized workers in West Bengal is the testimony of its pro-people commitment. This is yet to be implemented by most of the UPA or NDA sponsored Governments in other States. The welfare Scheme for construction workers has also provided much needed relief to these unorganized sector of workers is also another significant step taken by the left front Govt.

While the majority of the working people all over the country are being subjected to repression and widespread violation of labour laws being indulged by the both the state and central administration, the Left Front Govt of West Bengal has always taken forthright stand in support of all the struggles of working class against such repression and violations and also passed a legislation to plug the loopholes of the labour laws for effective implementation. The West Bengal Assembly has already passed legislation containing provision for Recovery Officers to be appointed by the Labour Department for recovery of money due from an employer through attachment of properties, arrest of the employer and detention in prison etc. The legislation is still awaiting assent from the President. The Left Front rule did always remain with the toiling people in all the sphere of its governance which demarcates it from other non-left governments and such demarcation is the source of its strength - the continued support of the mass of the people.

A PASSING PHASE

B.T. Ranadive characterised the Left Front Government as revolutionary outposts of our movements. They fight for alternative policies to the Central Government and oppose the policies of globalization by the Central Government.

However, formation of Left Front Government is only a passing phase of our revolutionary movement. Within the capitalist framework the State Govt. has limited powers since all financial powers are within the Central Government yet the Left Front government is trying to give maximum relief to the working class and the toiling masses.

The ultimate objective of the working class movement is to strive to organize a peoples' democratic revolution in which working class will play a leading role. This will pave the way for building a socialist society, which will abolish exploitation of man by man.

The workers peasant alliance has to play a crucial role in such a revolutionary social transformation. The policies and programmes of the Left Front Government has to encourage the people to move in that direction.

Formation of Left front Government in one state or in a couple of states will not automatically lead to such a revolutionary transformation. The democratic movement must be strengthened in other weaker states so that revolutionary forces become stronger in these weaker states.
There is urgent need to pay attention to these aspects if the left movement has to acquire an all India character in real terms. The people oriented alternate polices pursued by the left front Govt should continue to demarcate it from others. Working class in other states should popularize the achievements of the left front Govts of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura so that people are mobilized in defence of alternative policies. This alone will make the democratic movement achieve a popular character and develop a nationwide democratic movement for a real democratic change in the present exploitative social system. The strong movement in Left Front led states will be a powerful force to help strengthening of the left and democratic movement in other states.

The socio political developments in the country during last couple of decades point to that tremendous potential of the Left movement and the frontline role of the Left forces in the struggle against communal and divisive forces on the one hand and in combating the onslaught of neoliberal economic policies. In the present correlation of political forces, following defeat of the NDA regime and dependence of the UPA Govt on the Left parties, the contribution of the Left movement has been immense and our Left Front and Left Democratic Front Governments played crucial role in making such contribution effective. The Left-led governments in the three states of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura are pursuing developmental strategies towards horizontal expansion of the economy based on simultaneous growth of agriculture and manufacturing; they are upholding the democratic rights of the toiling people. They are pursuing such a line, despite all limitations imposed by the policy framework of the government at the centre. Thus, they bear the stamp of clear demarcation from other non-Left-ruled states. This demarcation is the source of their strength to resolutely fight the designs of imperialism and neoliberalism.

In such a background, it is but natural that the right reactionaries, the real votaries of neoliberalism and their cronies, will not miss any opportunity of maligning the Left. Their design is to isolate the Left and weaken their opposition to disastrous neoliberal policies. We must analyse the post Nandigram developments in this backdrop. We have to realise in depth the real import of and the ulterior design behind the recent countrywide vigorous anti-Left tirade by the reactionary forces and counter the same. We must, however, patiently explain to the common people, the importance of the role of Left forces in maintaining and strengthening the democratic secular fabric of society and the political system and in advancing the struggle for a pro-people economic regime and the cruciality of the Left Front Govt's role in the same.

Let the left and democratic movement surge forward so that the objective of ending the present exploitative system by the toiling masses can be achieved as soon as possible.

Defence of the Left Front Govt. has become an important task before the revolutionary movement in our country!

Consolidate This Alternative

Consolidate This Alternative

SITARAM YECHURY

Editorial,
PEOPLE’S DEMOCRACY,
June 24, 2007


BY any standard, in fact, by all standards, the 30th anniversary of the CPI(M)-led Left Front government in West Bengal is a remarkable event. By winning seven consecutive elections to the state assembly, the CPI(M)-led Left Front has established a record not only in India but in any parliamentary democracy globally.

What is more significant is that this remarkable achievement comes at a time when ‘anti-incumbency’ has virtually been elevated to the status of a natural law in contemporary Indian electoral politics. Why has the CPI(M)-led Left Front been able to negate this anti-incumbency factor? One must find the answer to this question in the circumstances that, in the first place, create this phenomenon. In an era of neo-liberal economic reforms, whose unconcealed preoccupation is solely with increasing corporate profits, the people’s livelihood standards, barring a minority, are constantly declining. This is best seen in the continuously widening hiatus between the ‘shining’ and `suffering’ India. Through these columns, repeatedly in the past, we had substantiated this reality. These, hence, need not be repeated here.

The consequent popular discontent over the declining standards of living and the glaring and growing gap between the rich and the poor invariably reflects electorally in the defeat of the ruling dispensation. If the concerns of the poor and their vulnerability are addressed in right earnest by the ruling dispensation, then anti-incumbency is effectively negated. The liberalisation pundits have often dismissed this reasoning by taking recourse to hurling baseless charges of ‘scientific rigging’ against the CPI(M). This was resoundingly debunked in the 2006 elections when the Left Front polled more votes and won more seats under a very strict and unprecedented five-phase election. The Election Commission had chosen to depute on duty security forces and administrative personnel from outside of the state under the apprehension that those belonging to Bengal would be partisan. At that time itself, the CPI(M) had publicly declared that as long as voters are not brought from outside, people of Bengal will not defeat the Left!

How has Bengal been able to cater to the people’s needs while in much of the rest of the country, the onslaught of liberalisation has been generating growing popular discontent?

Let us take a look at the economic development in West Bengal.

In the post-reform decade between 1993 to 2003 the average growth of net state domestic product was 7.10 per cent – the highest amongst the sixteen big states in India. This is well ahead of the media favourities like Maharashtra (4.74 per cent), Gujarat (5.87 per cent), Karnataka (6.27 per cent) Andhra Pradesh (5.27 per cent) and Tamilnadu (5.24 per cent). This is from a study done by the Centre for Policy Alternatives quoting statistics from the Central Statistical Organisation, the Economic Survey and RBI bulletins. Studies by the World Bank (2000); Montek Singh Ahluwalia (2000) corroborate such findings. In terms of per capita income, West Bengal has registered an average growth of 5.51 per cent as opposed to the national average of 4.01 per cent. This has happened despite the fact that the annual population growth was 1.64, much higher than the high flying states like Tamilnadu (1.06). The study notes “without doubt, the seemingly uncontrollable and unabated migration, particularly from Bangladesh but also from Nepal and neighbouring states like Bihar and Orissa, has contributed to this relatively high growth of population. Whatever are the reasons for this we can only surmise that the rise in per capita income could have been higher if there had been no population influx into Bengal.”

The more significant aspect of West Bengal’s performance is the fact that this was a growth led by agriculture in complete contrast to the national experience. Land reforms are often seen purely from the humanitarian aspect of providing a source of livelihood for those who otherwise have none. This is definitely an important aspect. But a proper rational land distribution also contributes to a growth in productivity (both land and labour) and enhances the purchasing power in the hands of a vast majority of the people who otherwise are excluded from the market. All these three aspects are visible in Bengal today. Nearly 13 lakh acres of agricultural land was acquired by the Left Front government and distributed to the landless poor. Nearly 25 lakh of people have benefited as a result. Even if one were to assume the value of one acre of land to be a conservative Rs 1 lakh, then this land distribution amounts to Rs 1,30,000 crores of worth of resource transfer from the rich to the poor. Such a massive redistribution of wealth has contributed to making West Bengal the fastest growing rural economy today. In addition, nearly 20 lakh sharecroppers have been recorded; meaning that the landlord cannot now evict them. They have also been conferred hereditary rights to cultivation. Combined, these two measures have radically transformed the lives of nearly 50 lakh individuals or nearly 2.5 crores of people if we include their families.

Such a massive redistribution of wealth in favour of people is – not surprisingly – resisted by the reactionary vested interests who continue to seek its reversal. Every election an effort is made by all these reactionary forces to try and defeat the Left Front hoping that this would permit them to regain their past glory.

What is often passed off as murderous clashes of political rivalry in Bengal masks this reality. Land reforms in rural Bengal has given a new economic status and the consequent new social and political consciousness to the rural poor that was denied through centuries. Today they seek to defend these rights against attacks by the vested interests.

This is the reality. People support and defend the Left Front in order to defend their hard won rights. It is this simple truth that explains why, unlike anywhere else in the country, the Left Front continues to negate the “anti-incumbency factor”.

West Bengal is the third most intensely agricultural state in India with 76.61 per cent of its land under cultivation. However, only 28.1 of this is irrigated, unlike say Punjab which has 89.72 per cent land under irrigation. Despite this, Bengal today has the third highest average yield in India and its volume of foodgrains production is also third after Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Today it is the country’s largest producer of rice. In the early eighties the per capita net agricultural product in West Bengal was 18 per cent lower than the national average. Today it stands over 10 per cent higher than the national average.

One may well ask if all this is true, then why all the trouble in Nandigram where it is alleged that the peasants are protesting their land is being acquired for industrial development. The issue in Nandigram, today, has nothing to do with the acquisition of agricultural land from the peasantry. In the initial weeks of 2007, there was a genuine apprehension and concern amongst the people that the government was considering acquiring land for a chemical hub. However, when the people’s reactions were noted by the CPI(M) and the government, in early February, it was publicly declared that no land will be acquired in Bengal against the wishes of the peasantry. Thus, the issue of land acquisition should have simply ceased to exist as a bone of contention. That the agitation is continuing with violence and free flow of arms is a reflection of the contemporary politics in Bengal.

The opponents of the CPI(M) had adopted a technique mastered over a decade or so of entering a cluster of villages with arms, terrifying local population in order to establish their clout and, on that basis, hope to improve their electoral prospects through terror. Much has been written about this in these columns, hence, it would suffice to note that this is a political challenge being mounted against the Left Front government and it shall be met politically like it was done earlier in Panskura, Garbeta etc.

Be that as it may, the situation in Bengal has reached a stage where a further improvement of people’s living conditions can be possible only if on the basis of the agriculture-led economic growth a trajectory of industrialisation takes place rapidly. This is so because as a result of land reforms and the subsequent fragmentation of land, a situation has arisen where more than ten families are dependent together on one single acre of land. This was noted when the number of people who collected their voluntary compensation was a whopping 12,000 for less than 1000 acres of land in Singur i.e. 12,000 owners for 1000 acres!

Clearly, the existing reality was such that many were eking out their livelihood not from land alone but by doing additional sundry work. Unless employment can be generated in a massive way, further improvement in their livelihood is not possible. And, this is precisely what the CPI(M)-led Left Front is seeking in Bengal today – rapid industrialisation.

However, much of the political opposition to the CPI(M)-led Left Front has often charged that under the Left Front government, no industrialisation is possible. The oft-repeated charge that under the Left Front, there was, in fact, deindustrialisation continues to be hurled even today while the same forces prevent the new initiatives for industrialisation that are being undertaken. Those who hurl such charges deliberately conceal the full story.

Being the most industrialised state at the time of independence, there was a conscious decision by the government of India that in order to have a more balanced economic development in the country as a whole, it was necessary to prevent further growth of industries in West Bengal. The licence-permit system ensured that this happened. Further, in order to make investment in West Bengal less lucrative, a policy called ‘Freight Equalisation’ was implemented which made production of similar goods in West Bengal more expensive than in other parts of the country. Both these measures deterred the further industrialisation of West Bengal for full four decades after independence. While the first prevented the entry of new industries, the second encouraged the flight of existing industries to outside West Bengal. To attribute this flight of capital merely to "trade unionism" would be too facile. This situation, however, is fast changing with the dismantling of earlier policies. The significant factor heralding such a change is the growing purchasing power of the people. Calcutta was once considered as the jewel of the British crown. Kolkata is destined today to emerge as the jewel of modern India.

The future of Bengal and improvement of the living standards of the vast majority of the people lies in this trajectory of rapid industrialisation on the bedrock of the unprecedented advances made in agrarian Bengal. This is not a trajectory of industrialisation at the expense of agriculture and the peasantry. This is industrialisation based on the consolidation of the gains made in agriculture and safeguarding the rights of the people in rural Bengal.

It is this that the CPI(M)’s political opponents in Bengal oppose through methods of armed violence and terror. The reason for their opposition is simple. If the Left Front succeeds, then it shall once again negate the anti-incumbency factor sealing the fate of their electoral and political future.

The challenge before the Left Front government as it completes its three decades is to show the rest of the country that even under the present liberalisation onslaught, it is possible to safeguard people’s livelihood and improve it on the lines of the above strategy. Herein lies the alternative for the people of India and the partial redemption from the continuously growing onslaughts on their livelihood status under liberalisation. The advance of this alternative strengthens the struggle for the complete liberation of the Indian people through the establishment of the Socialist Republic of India.

West Bengal Left Front Govt: A Historic Anniversary

West Bengal Left Front Govt:
A Historic Anniversary

Prakash Karat



THE Left Front government in West Bengal enters its 30th year of existence on June 21, 2006. This is a historic day which comes in the background of an equally historic election victory which has led to the formation of the seventh Left Front government.

The three decades of the Left Front government is of enormous significance in the annals of the communist movement in the country. It has also acquired international significance. It is necessary to recall the past history in order to understand the long and arduous political struggle that has gone into the creation of a stable Left political formation and a stable Left Front government in West Bengal.

THE PRE-1977 PERIOD

The Communist Party first formed a government in 1957 in Kerala after winning the assembly elections. This government, headed by E M S Namboodiripad, was ousted in 21 months. Article 356 of the constitution was used for the first time by the then Nehru government to dismiss an elected state government.

After the fourth general elections in 1967, when the Congress lost in nine states, the United Front governments were formed in West Bengal and Kerala for the first time. These were coalition governments in which the CPI(M) was the largest party. But these governments were not allowed to remain in office for long. The first United Front government of West Bengal was dismissed after nine months. The Left parties fought back this conspiracy and central intervention to destabilise the United Front government and, in 1969, once again the United Front was re-elected with a big majority. This government also fell after 13 months, in 1970. In Kerala, the United Front government lasted for 31 months and fell apart in 1969. These governments were formed at the crest of sustained struggles.

The Left Front of West Bengal is a product of decades of class struggle and popular movements. The 1950s and 1960s witnessed the rising struggles of a working class, peasantry and other sections of the working people in West Bengal. It was not possible for the ruling classes to tolerate the existence of governments in which the Left had a leading role. The Congress governments at the centre were hostile to the existence of communist-led state governments. Given the all-India political situation in the 1950s and 1960s, in view of the correlation of forces and the hostility to communists amongst the whole ruling class political spectrum, it was not possible to sustain these governments beyond short spells.

It was only in 1977, after the end of internal emergency and the increased democratic consciousness of the people after the anti-authoritarian struggle, that it became possible for the Left-led governments to remain in office for a full term. This was also because of the fact that the CPI(M) increased its strength and became the dominant political force in states like West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. Even after this, attacks continued as witnessed in the rigging undertaken and terror unleashed in Tripura during the 1988 assembly elections. But the innate strength of the CPI(M) and the Left overcame this onslaught too.

SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS

It was in this conjuncture that the Left Front government, headed by Jyoti Basu, began its work three decades ago. Looking back, we can see how the Left Front government worked within the constraints of the existing constitutional and socio-economic system, implemented land reforms, decentralised powers, instituted the democratic panchayati raj system, accomplished growth in agricultural production, protected democratic rights, ensured communal harmony and nurtured secular values.

The two most important changes brought about by the Left Front government in its early years in the countryside were the implementation of land reforms and the reorganisation of the panchayats as democratic institutions of the local government. These two --- identified as the policy of walking on two legs --- were closely interrelated. The government acquired over 11 lakh acres of land and distributed the same among 25 lakh landless and small peasant households and, under its Operation Barga, 14 lakh sharecroppers were registered, bringing 11 lakh acres of land under the control of the bargadars. About 55 per cent of the beneficiaries of land distribution and 42 per cent bargadars came from the dalits and adivasis.

Alongside, the Left Front revitalised the three-tier panchayati raj system. A big majority of the elected representatives in the panchayati raj system came from the small and marginal peasants, adivasis and dalits. More than one-third of the seats are occupied by women. This democratic system was institutionalised 17 years before the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments became enforceable in all the states.

As the CPI(M) Programme envisages, land reforms have led to increased agricultural production. By the end of the seventh plan period, food production increased by 29.89 per cent in the state as against the all-India average of 13.42 per cent. It is the land reform programme and the institutionalisation of the panchayati raj system which provided the backbone for the rural base of the CPI(M) and the Left Front.

TWO PHASES



The 29 years of the Left Front government can be more or less equally divided into two phases. In the first phase --- 1977 to 1991 --- the Left Front government was working under a regime where state regulation of the economy under a capitalist path of development existed. The role of the central government and the nature of centre-state relations were different in this period. The centre had licensing powers for industry and allocated resources for public investment and development. During this period, West Bengal suffered from discrimination. The successive central governments would discourage industries being set-up in West Bengal and utilised the licensing power to the detriment of the state. The centre also wielded its financial powers in a manner to deprive the state of public investment. In this period, the Left Front had to wage continuous struggles to oppose discrimination.

Industrial development languished due to these iniquitous centre-state relations and due to an inadequate appreciation in the earlier years of the fact that the Left Front government is in for a long stint in office. In fact, West Bengal, which was the front-ranking industrial state at the time of independence, slipped behind and in 1985 it was only contributing 8 per cent of the total industrial output in the country.

The second phase in which the Left Front government is now working began in 1992 and continues upto now. This is the phase of liberalisation and the deregulation of the state control and intervention in the economy. It is also marked by the push for neo-liberal policies and the drastic cutbacks on state investments. The centre’s withdrawal from welfare and social sector responsibilities have also had a serious impact on the state.

It is in such a situation that the fifth Left Front government adopted an industrial policy in 1994. Taking into account the new situation, the Central Committee of the CPI(M) adopted a resolution on the “Role of the West Bengal Left Front Government: In the Context of the New Economic Policies” in December 1994. Subsequently, the West Bengal state conference of the party, in 2002, adopted a resolution on “The Left Front Government and Our Tasks.” It is on the basis of this approach that the Left Front government has sought to meet its commitments to the people and has been working for the development of the state in a milieu where the central government is vigorously pushing for free market policies and privatisation. The Left Front government has taken initiatives to invite private investment, so that the state can have a strong industrial base and acquire high technology. While promoting private investment, the government is committed to defend the rights of the working class and their trade union rights. At the same time, the Left Front government is committed to people-oriented development where the poorer sections are provided the wherewithal to overcome poverty. Education, health and social welfare facilities have to be provided even though the resources of the state are limited. The state government, while attracting private investment, will not retreat from its commitment to provide basic services for the people.

This is the perspective of the CPI(M) for the Left Front government spelled out in the Political Resolution of its 18th congress: “Faced with the neo-liberal policies of the centre, the Left-led governments have to struggle hard to pursue policies which ensure pro-people and balanced development. While promoting private investment, the Left Front governments defend the public sector in key areas, protect and, if possible, expand public expenditure in the social sector and project alternative policies to protect the poorer sections who are the worst affected by the policies pursued by the central government.”

PEOPLE APPRECIATE POLICY FRAMEWORK

The recent assembly elections show that the people have appreciated the policy framework that the CPI(M) and the Left Front has set out for the development of the state. The performance of the sixth Left Front government, under Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, has sought to build on the past achievements and chart out a path of development which can avoid the pitfalls of the neo-liberal prescriptions of the centre while, at the same time, realistically utilising the existing resources of the state and private investment.

Throughout these three decades, West Bengal under the Left Front rule has shown the country that it is possible to avoid the harmful politics of communalism and casteism which divide the people and disrupt the working class movement. The fact that the BJP and other communal forces have failed to make headway in the state testifies to the anti-communal atmosphere prevailing in West Bengal. All through the vicissitudes of the offensive of the communal forces, particularly in the 1990s, West Bengal stood as a bastion of communal harmony and adherence to the secular principle. This, in a state which has a Muslim population of 26 per cent, is a shining example for the rest of the country. This has been possible because the peasantry, the workers and all other sections of the working people, irrespective of religion, have been united along class lines and developed a political consciousness which rises above sectarian identities and loyalties.

The seventh Left Front government is conscious of the need to provide for the all-round development of the Muslim minority, so that they can more fully be part of the common endeavour of all sections of the working people for a better life.

The Left Front government is the political manifestation of the fact that West Bengal is the bastion of the Left and democratic forces in the country. It is the existence and the record of the Left Front government in the past three decades which has provided the ballast for the Left movement in the country. When the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the imperialist offensive commenced in 1991, the Left Front government was able to withstand the hostile ideological environment, both internationally and domestically. It has also been able to avoid the worst aspects of the anti-people, neo-liberal policies and steer a course whereby its pro-people commitments are not abandoned. This was possible because of the strong mass base of the CPI(M) and the Left. We recall the tremendous sacrifices by the CPI(M) and Left cadres over the three decades. Thousands of them laid down their lives in the class struggle and in defence of democracy.

As the Left Front government enters its 30th year of existence, it has the good wishes and support of all progressive and democratic-minded people in the country.

From People's Democracy, June 25, 2006

The Significance Of The Seventh LF Govt

The Significance Of

The Seventh LF Govt

Biman Basu

Published in PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACY, June 25, 2006

THE sweeping electoral triumph of the Bengal Left Front under the leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was replete with significance. For the seventh consecutive time a Communist-led Left Front government could be established in a country within the confines of a federal polity in a bourgeois-landlord State led by the big bourgeoisie. This in itself is perhaps unprecedented in the political annals of the world. Certainly, the triumphant existence in continuum of the Communist-led Left Front government in Bengal has created a new chapter in the history of the country itself.

In the recent past, a series of coalition governments have sprung up at the level of the states and the centre. Many of these governments, particularly those of ruling parties, for all purposes are the product of an electoral coalition of opportunism, and are anti-people.

Not being motivated by a declared principle of serving the people in general, these governments frequently suffer from shifting partners, giving birth to newer sets of coalitions, equally opportunistic as the predecessors they would replace.

These coalition outfits have no interest in the fundamental task of land reforms. They do not care for the interest of the rural poor, the small and marginal farmers, and for the kisans in general. The states under the governance of these coalition regimes do not get to build up the rural economic base. The economic development itself suffers grievously in the circumstances and the onus of the crisis is shifted onto the shoulders of the common man, especially the poor and the downtrodden.

LEFT FRONT: THE UNIQUENESS

The Left Front is not a coalition of convenience. It is not a mere electoral alliance. It has come up through the rigours of struggle. It is deeply set in the hearts and minds of the people, especially of the toiling masses. The Left Front government is thus a government with a difference.

A few instances of the pro-people outlook of the Bengal Left Front government may be cited here. In 1977, the first Left Front government was swept to office riding the wave of a popular wave. In 1978, the new government has put in a comprehensive programme of redistributive land reforms where big ceiling surplus land chunks were redistributed amongst the rural poor. Concurrently organised, the Operation Barga aimed at securing the rights of the bargadars or sharecroppers. In the same year, elections to the rural panchayats were held and these three-tier institutions have functioned since as the rural government.

Irrigated land parcels grew rapidly. Before 25 years have gone, the state of Bengal had become surplus in food production. The economic base of the state was built up solidly and the base was located in the realm of land reforms and agricultural growth.

In 1994 was announced the state industrial policy under the stewardship of the then chief minister Jyoti Basu. Infrastructure started to be built up rapidly. Infrastructure, including communications, roadways etc started to improve in a coordinated manner. From the mid-1980s the two large-scale industrial units, the Haldia Petro-Chem and the Bakreswar Thermal Power plant had started to function boosting the economic growth of the state. The struggle that preceded the setting up of the industrial infrastructure was soon turned into a massive people’s struggle with all sections of the people participating in it even as the then union government delayed the clearance, in both instances, by at least a decade, a clearance that was mandatory.

PATH OF DEVELOPMENT

As the fifth Left Front government advanced along the path of development, a cluster of investors, indigenous and foreign, started to regard Bengal as an investor-friendly state and commenced investing in technology-driven industries. Industries can be set on identified land parcels: availability of land thus is a precondition to industrial take off. Such dedicated land parcels come from fallow and uncultivable land although in a few instances, cultivable land preferably of the single-crop variety, too, must be utilised.

Those who stand against developmental programmes in Bengal and those who militate against the setting up of new industrial units cry foul and splutter out that an agricultural crisis would follow. This is a calumnious lie campaign aimed at creating uncertainty among the people. Facts speak for themselves. For example, the total agricultural land in 1991 stood at 1.25 crore hectare. Despite some amount of land being taken over for industrial purposes, the total agricultural land in 2001 increased to stand at 1.37 crore hectare. Thus, when we speak about building up our industries based on the success of our agricultural growth, the people of Bengal support us in a big way.

An important feature of the Bengal Left Front governance is that during this period, a strong movement could be built up with the participation of a vast number of people to struggle against and isolate every form of fundamentalism and separatism. Massive rallies of people at the Brigade Parade Grounds were held by the Left Front for the purpose of safeguarding and securing national integrity and unity, and communal harmony. The Left Front was supported in this bid by other Left parties.

It is essential to establish and gain all-round success in the realm of education. Under the auspices of the pro-people Left Front government, education has spread wide amongst the masses, and the poorer sections of the society are no longer deprived of the light of education in any manner. Technical education has flourished. More and more students have entered the portals of higher education. The struggle to maintain quality at all tiers of education has continued apace. The number of universities has increased. The outlook of the Left Front government in the spread of education is to develop human resources in a coordinated manner. The viewpoint of the Left Front government is to serve the interests of the common man.

The Left Front government in delineating its plans and programmes has always kept a special place for the poor and the downtrodden. Constant review of work is done and rigorously. The Left Front government is uncompromisingly dedicated to the task of eradicating social crime and social wrongs, building up a strong public opinion on this issue.


STRUGGLE AND DEVELOPMENT

The ongoing unstinted efforts on the part of the Left Front government to struggle against limitation of financial powers and to chalk out an alternate path of development have attracted the attention of the people and have impressed them. The Left Front government has taken a pledge to honour this recognition and to further accelerate the struggle towards development in the state.

The Bengal Left Front government is making its best efforts in the task of taking the state forward. It does not hesitate to explain in details before the people the reasons why some tasks could not be fulfilled. The people, taken into confidence by the Left Front government, have ensured its continuation in office for the seventh time in succession.

We must not forget even for a moment that it is simply not possible to resolve the basic problems of the people living in a state within the capitalist state structure of our country. Nor is it possible to build up a Socialistic pattern of society in any one particular state in these circumstances. Thus, the Bengal Left Front government is not in a position to implement programmes aimed at setting up Socialism.

In the circumstances, the Party has to keep alive the ideological struggle, enhance the level of consciousness of Party members and close sympathisers, and make clear what we can and what we cannot do in the present state structure. We have to take ever greater care of the poor and the downtrodden. To accomplish this, a multi-faceted struggle is necessary against deprivation, persecution, and corruption. If we are successful in this struggle, we shall be in a position to build up the unity of the toiling masses in the greater struggle for the fulfilment of the long-term tasks that lie ahead.

INCREASED RESPONSIBILITY

In organising and leading the seventh Left Front government, which has started its journey anew from May 18, 2006, the Party has to walk along an untravelled path, implementing the basic teachings of Marxism-Leninism in the concrete situation of the country, its State structure, and the development of the people.

The fact that the Bengal Left Front after running the state government for nearly three decades could win the electoral support of 50.18 per cent people and gain three-fourths of the assembly seats, has naturally increased the expectations of the populace from the LF government. The responsibility of the Party and of all the constituents of the Left Front has concomitantly increased.

Those of the toiling masses who have not supported the Left Front (nearly 50 per cent of the electorate) should be approached, our point of view communicated to them, and we have to build a living relationship with them. To win the hearts and minds of the people we need also to freely admit our mistakes and take corrective action as appropriate.

The Bengal Left Front government is undoubtedly an improved, highly developed pro-people government functioning taking into account the concrete realties of the country. If it were thought that this government is able to tackle and resolve the basic problems of the people, there would be the danger of a right deviation. Similarly, there would be cause for left adventurism to develop if it is presumed that this kind of government is never in a position to implement pro-people programmes.

We must take steps to strengthen the Left-democratic forces by leading the Left Front government, within the evolving concrete realities, towards pro-people governance, towards extension of the democratic movement, and towards holding up the honour and prestige of the Communists and the Left in the political history of the country. The task of political education must proceed apace. In working for the interests of the people, the Party leadership and Party workers must be enlightened with the realisation of the situation that unfolds before us.

TASKS BEFORE THE PARTY AND THE LF

To put in place the programme for the accelerated pace of industrialisation of Bengal, the Party and Left Front workers must think in similar terms and go boldly forward and engage themselves towards a successful implementation of the assigned tasks. While we may not be able to fulfil every hope and aspiration of the people, we must as Marxist-Leninists take advantage of the evolving reality and prove ourselves equal to the task. Communists do not repose trust in fate. Thus, each of us shall have to continue to engage himself/herself in carrying forth our responsibility with alacrity to expand further the twin processes of development and struggle in Bengal. The struggle is never ending.

Without the development of human resources, it is not possible, despite growth indicators elsewhere, to build up the soldiers and architects of struggle. The Bengal Left Front government can shine as a leading light before the toiling masses of the country, before the democratic, progressive, and secular people. And for this the Party committees must engage themselves in the political-organisational tasks, grasping the reality and taking part in the twin processes of struggle and development.

JYOTI BASU ON 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF LEFT FRONT GOVT.

“In spite of constitutional limitations, what we could, why other state governments couldn’t?”

-JYOTI BASU

“With the installation of the LF front government in West Bengal on 21st June, 1977, a new era had started in Indian politics and in the life of the Indian people. We knew that under such social structure and constitutional limitations we cannot change every thing, we promised to give minimum relief for common man, after 30 years, I think what we have done for people is more than minimum relief, in defence of the interest of people, we implemented the alternative approach of development” Veteran Communist leader and CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Jyoti Basu has stated.

On the eve of 30th anniversary of Left Front government in West Bengal, 93 year old veteran communist leader JYOTI BASU in an exclusive interview with Prajashakti representative expressed his views and experiences, enlightened on the struggle behind the installation of LF government and its tremendous achievement during last three decades. At the same time Basu also has asserted that “within such constitutional limitation if we (Left Front in Bengal, Tripura, and Kerala) could implement various pro-people policies, why other states failed to implement such policies?”

Comrade Jyoti Basu will turn 94 on July 8, as longest serving Chief Minister and veteran communist leader Jyoti Basu stated, “I am extremely happy that LF completed 30 years in office, the people of a state gave a massive mandate in favour of a coalition led by the Marxists to run a government. The mandate was renewed again and again”.


Q. Left Front government led by CPI (M) has completed its 30 years journey in a bourgeois-democratic stratum - which is unparalleled and historic - how could this be achieved?

Basu: Actually there was a time when we thought that no LF government would survive; it is equally true that we never imagined we will continue for 30 years although the real power in parliamentary democracy rests with the Centre and with the bourgeois-landlord parties. In 1957, the First United Democratic Front Government was formed in Kerala under Comrade E M S Namboodiripad was Chief Minister. We highlight this experience in our state. In 1960s and 1970s, massive struggles were waged under the leadership of CPI(M). The movement for food, the student movement the refugee movement, the workers’ movement and the teacher’s movement followed one after another which created massive political mobilisation which was instrumental in installing United Front Government in the year 1967, though the government survived for nine months. And the second U.F Government lasted for thirteen months which came into power in 1969. Even at that time people of Bengal observed the role of our party, in spite being the largest party in the alliance, we left the CMs post for Bangla Congress. As we all know what happened in 1971, in the name of election, the Congress resorted to malpractice, it was a complete mockery of parliamentary democracy. Congress won that election by rigging, we decided to boycott assembly session as mark of protest. After that that struggle for democratic rights and freedom of civilians took an unforgettable height at in West Bengal. Freedom of expression of common citizens was snatched after the imposition of emergency on June 26, 1975. In fact, such situation prevailed continuously since the fall of the second United Front government. The older generation has seen us in the opposition; they have also seen the amount of repression we had to suffer. Our party was declared illegal after independence in 1948. Most of our leaders were jailed. After high court gave us legal status we participated in the first poll in 1952. People have witnessed the brutality with which the bourgeois party’s unleashed terror on our party members and workers but even under such repression we never surrendered before our class enemy, never compromised with the ruling class. This is our legacy. And it is this continuous struggle for people in the face of all adversity have earned us the respect and immense faith. Even after 30-years people still vote for us in every election. Slanderous campaigns were launched against us to dislodge us from power through unconstitutional means and even Election Commission joined in by holding elections in five phases but people of the State gave a fitting reply by sending back LF to power with three-fourth majority.



Q. After the installation of LF government so many pro-people programs have been implemented during this period, what were the main priority sectors and major achievements?

Basu: Only after we came to office, we gave serious concentration to implement our commitments which were mentioned in our 36-point charter of programs. After we won election in 1977, I told the people, gathered to greet us at Writers’ Building that we would not rule from Writers Building alone but also with the workers, employees, and officers and along with all section of people. We gave emphasise over Land reform programs, as I know more than 13 lakh acre land were distributed among poor and land less people. In our state about 83 percent of the agricultural land is in the possession of the poor and marginalized farmers. This program is still continuing, even this Seventh LF government distributed land to poor people, though some problem relating to court cases still remain. We also gave emphasis to agricultural development, decentralization of power through the three tier panchayat system, municipalities, ensuring women reservation in panchayat system. Voting right for all above 18 years, in municipality and panchayat. Agricultural production has increased. We also give much priority on micro and small-scale industry. Interests of poor people, agricultural labour, share-croppers are very much protected. Through series of mass movement and struggles, Left Front came to office. The Left Front is not any electoral front - people saw our role. In parliamentary democracy we have created history. I heartedly believe that whatever we committed at the time of installation of LF government we have almost fulfilled about 90 percent program. Though still now there is no denying that there are some draw backs. We have committed electrification for every village but it was not completed, though I informed that within 2012 it will be done, 7th Left Front Government has decided it. Actually we never hide anything before people, even our negative points. We ask our party comrades to listen to the criticism against us and if there is anything positive that can be done, then it has to be done, if not then the people should be told so directly - it is our tasks. Though in many cases Central government is responsible, they have created barriers over our developmental program and hampered our image.


Q. You have mentioned Bengal have faced discrimination, Please elaborate this issue?

Basu: You see from the beginning we have faced various conspiracies and discrimination. I still remember two or three incidents very well. There was an electronic project in Salt Lake area that Indira Gandhi has promised to help us with, after keeping me waiting for one year she said that her officers who had set up a committee to look in to this matter, unanimously suggested her not to go with this project - no investment should be made in West Bengal, because it is a border state, ridiculous! I asked them what is the problem, if it is a security related problem then it will be more serious in North-Eastern states, but she told, ‘I cannot do anything, our Officers are not ready to give you permission! But later without any help of Central government we build up this electronic complex on 300 acres land, now about 25-30 thousands youth work there. The other case is of Haldia Petrochemicals Complex, a project worth over Rs.5, 000 crores, but I had to wait for 11 years to get permission from the Central government, though now more than 70,000 people are employed in the downstream industries.



Q. how do you see the opposition’s role in the developmental program of Bengal?

Basu: Several times I told that in parliamentary democracy role of opposition is very important whether big or small. But it should be a responsible opposition. Oppositions parties have the right to oppose Government program but in a responsible manner, when we take pro-people program there is no reason why they will not extend a co-operative hand.

Bengal is now largest producer of rice and second largest producer of potato in country. Through land reform program we distributed lands to poor people. This program is still continuing. Now for the interest of unemployed youth, Government is emphasizing on industrialisation. It is the necessity for our state. There was a time when WB held a prestigious position among other states in country. But due to politically motivated licensing system and policy of freight equalization by the successive Congress governments, the state had to suffer a lot and acute industrial stagnation was developed. But after removal of these regulations, discrimination, I delivered one speech over our industrial policy in assembly, though congress legislator also marked their opposition against this policy. Some confusion was created after placing this report, actually here I mentioned that for the industrial growth we also needed foriegn investment, but it should be based on mutual interest protecting the legitimate interest of our workers. However, the opposition created chaos over LF government’s every developmental programme. Even when I was the Chief Minister, we appealed to the opposition to be a part of the all-party delegation to meet Prime Minster Rajiv Gandhi, they never did, Mamata Banerjee and Ajit Panja refused to be a part of the delegation. Mamata told ‘we can’t go with you before Rajib Gandhi”.

When our Government was bringing developmental projects for our state they created problem. Even, few months ago TMC legislator ransacked assembly house, destroyed many costly furniture, government assets. Is this a responsible attitude, I was informed that Assembly Speaker decided to stop their salary, though now, they have been resumed. What I am trying to say is that earlier opposition party played responsible, constructive role, people of Bengal have seen our role as a responsible opposition. We never created problem over developmental program for our state or the interest of people- even when Congress CM Bidhan Roy took initiative for Durgapore steel plant, Kalyani township we support those projects.


Q. So, on coming 21st June LF government will complete its 30 year long journey - as Veteran leader of country’s communist movement what are your feelings?

Basu: I am extremely happy, our government now reached in its 31 year. It is a historic moment before parliamentary democracy. Actually during these long periods what we implemented in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, has to be campaigned countrywide. People across the country have to know what type of alternative programs we implemented in these state. Within such constitutional limitations and social structure what we have done, why other state couldn’t do this? This question has to be raised.


Though we are very strong in three states along with some of the other state but our party is not strong in many states. Not only the party organisation, but we have to strengthen our mass organization as well. Without strengthening mass organisation’s, we cannot build up a strong party all over the country.

I believe that under such bourgeois structure, we should take whatever little advantage from that system. Our aim is to build a class-less, non-exploiting society, for which we have to continue our fight.

Though I don’t know how long it will take time.

Three Decades of Left Front Rule in Bengal

By Prabhat Patnaik

THE Left Front’s completion of three decades in office in West Bengal by winning every single popular election since 1977 naturally raises the question: how has this been possible? A phenomenon such as this does not belong to the realm of the “small change of politics” (to use BTR’s phrase). It can occur only under certain specific historical circumstances, namely when the political formation in question comes to power in the midst of an acute social crisis and is successful in leading society out of that crisis. And this is exactly what the Left Front in West Bengal has done.

The acute social crisis that had come to a head in West Bengal in the mid-seventies can be traced back to its colonial past. Bengal was the first region in India to be colonised by the British and faced the massive impact of the drain of wealth that began immediately after Plassey. This impact, whose manifestations were de-industrialisation, impoverishment of the people, and a string of famines, which lasted almost till the end of British rule, also altered the structure of the economy in crucial ways. The Permanent Settlement of 1793, a mechanism erected for effecting the drain, did not just create a class of parasitic intermediaries. It also entailed an almost total absence of investment by the colonial rulers in irrigation or the agricultural sector (since such investment yielded no additional revenues to them). This, in the context of the acute pressure of population on land that de-industrialisation generated, meant agricultural stagnation, and an intense exploitation of the peasantry through rack-renting. The abysmal state of the peasantry worsened further in the period of the Great Depression when the decline in the terms of trade greatly increased peasant indebtedness and loss of land. Even though sporadic efforts had been made to provide some succour to the peasantry before independence (for instance by the Fazlul Haq ministry), the situation continued to remain grim. The last straw was the huge burden of financing Britain’s war against Japan, which was unjustly put on India as a whole but affected Bengal to the greatest extent, trebling the price of rice in less than two years and resulting in three million famine deaths with another half a million rural households being reduced to beggary.

ROOTS OF SOCIAL CRISIS

The post-independence land reforms of the Congress government, even though they broke the power of the erstwhile zamindars, succeeded only in strengthening the class of jotedars which had come up just below this layer and had become the real centre of local power even before the end of the colonial era. No doubt some rich peasants moved up into the category of owners from that of tenants, but the bulk of the toiling peasantry remained steeped in misery. And once the easy prospects of increasing cropping intensity had got exhausted by the end of the fifties, the agrarian crisis resurfaced in all its old ferocity, to a point where it was almost taken for granted by scholars, both in India and abroad, that Bengal had reached an agrarian impasse.

The industrial front too presented a cheerless picture. Old industries like jute which had come up in the colonial era faced bleak prospects. The engineering industry, which had surfaced towards the end of the colonial era and prospered for a while on the basis of catering to government orders, especially of the railways, went into terminal illness with the mid-sixties recession which marked the end of the era of active public investing. The Freight Equalisation Scheme ensured that the edge that Bengal would normally have enjoyed in a whole range of new industries because of proximity to coal and iron ore reserves, got blunted. For all these reasons, in the case of industry too, as in agriculture, it appeared to be the end of the road for Bengal.

The social crisis was born out of this impasse. The peasantry was mired in poverty and stagnation, with little prospects for improving its position; the working class, employed largely in industries which were declining, faced unemployment and ruin; and the urban middle class faced bleak job prospects. The situation was explosive, and yet attempts by revolutionary extremists to change the situation by force came a cropper. The bourgeois-landlord State sought to control the situation through semi-fascist terror, for which Left extremism provided it with an excuse. It unleashed this terror against the CPI(M) which lost nearly 1200 cadres over a short span of time.

HISTORICAL CONTRIBUTION

The terror in West Bengal provided the backdrop to Indira Gandhi’s infamous Emergency rule, which it preceded and merged into. But the net result of this terror was only to keep the social crisis simmering below the surface. Or to put it differently, on top of the basic social crisis which remained unresolved, West Bengal experienced additionally the impact of Left extremist and semi-fascist violence. It could neither move forward to a revolution, nor carry on in the old way. It was caught in a logjam. The Left Front government which came to power in 1977 broke this logjam; and therein lay its real historical contribution, because of which it has remained dear to the hearts of the people of the state for so long.

In the countryside, it broke the social power of the jotedars. Operation Barga recorded unregistered tenants and thereby gave a legal status to the sharecroppers who until then had been at the complete mercy of the landlords. In fact the term “sharecropper” is a misnomer, since it suggests as if he received a fixed share of the crop; instead, it was typically the landlords’ men who harvested the crop and handed over a pittance to the bargadar who had done the actual cultivating. The Left Front government promulgated a simple rule: whoever cultivated the land was alone entitled to harvest the crop. The harvest therefore went into the bargadar’s possession in the first place, and it was he who then handed over the landlord’s share, against a receipt. This increased the tenant’s income. In addition, by assuring him of a fixed share of the produce, it increased the tenant’s incentive to introduce better agricultural practices and increase output. Moreover, the receipt obtained from the landlord, since it indicated that the tenant had some right over the land, also acted as a collateral for obtaining credit. This improvement in the tenants’ position, together with the distribution of ceiling-surplus land, brought about a change in the correlation of class forces in the countryside which formed the basis for an agricultural revival.

At the same time public investment in agriculture, especially in irrigation, was stepped up greatly. Given the skewed distribution of fiscal resources between the centre and the states, and the centre’s propensity to treat the magnitude of total devolution of resources to the states and their inter se distribution across states, as matters over which it had absolute discretion, the West Bengal government faced severe fiscal punishment for the political sin of being Left. But it fought back vigorously. It championed the rights of the states against the centralisation of fiscal resources and powers, and united state governments to carry forward the fight for a genuinely federal structure. At the same time, notwithstanding the acute fiscal difficulties into which it had been pushed, it ensured substantial increases in plan outlays.

The combination of land reforms and increased public investment in the countryside, made West Bengal, for the decade of the 1980s, the state with the highest rate of growth in agricultural output. During the neo-liberal nineties, agricultural growth declined everywhere in the country, but even so West Bengal’s performance was relatively better. This agricultural revival, and the general re-fashioning of the West Bengal countryside, occurred within a whole new set of institutions, the panchayats, where again West Bengal was a pioneer in the country. Panchayati raj which until then had been a virtually defunct concept, retained by the Congress government in its official documents largely in deference to the Mahatma’s memory, was given a whole new life and became, under a Marxist dispensation, a powerful instrument of democratic decentralisation.

The agricultural revival put purchasing power in the hands of the peasants and labourers and enlarged the domestic rural market, which in turn stimulated significant rural industrialisation. To this was added a whole new set of initiatives on the part of the state government to enlarge the modern industrial base of the state. With the big bourgeoisie chary of investing in West Bengal, these initiatives entrusted the public sector with a leading role, of which the Haldia petrochemical complex, the most ambitious industrial project completed in the state to date, was a direct off-shoot.

CHALLENGE POSED BY NEO-LIBERALISM

The adoption of neo-liberal policies at the centre since 1991 has become a major constraint on the Left front’s pursuit of its old development trajectory. A central feature of that trajectory was active government intervention and investment; but neo-liberalism wants a “withdrawal of the State” (a euphemism for State intervention confining itself to providing “incentives” to domestic and foreign monopolists and financiers). The Left Front government had energised agriculture by freeing the peasantry from jotedar hegemony, by using the government to succour the peasantry against landlords, something which the Nehruvians had only planned on paper but never succeeded in doing; but neo-liberalism wants the peasants to be left to the mercy of the “market forces” which means being hegemonised by corporate capital making encroachments into the agricultural sector.

The Left Front government had given the public sector a prominent role (and has had remarkable success even of late in reviving public sector units); but neo-liberalism wants the State only to promote private corporate capital, both domestic and foreign, through the so-called “public-private partnerships”. The Left Front government had stepped up plan outlays significantly; but neo-liberalism forces expenditure deflation on the State, including on state governments, through inter alia the so-called fiscal responsibility legislation (which West Bengal has held out against till now). In short, neo-liberalism poses a major challenge for the pursuit of a Left development strategy at the state level, such as underlay the remarkable success of the Left Front government.

This challenge however has to be met and overcome. There are still enough possibilities within the system which can be used. For instance, the Central Sector Schemes (which the centre itself formulates on the implicit assumption that they would remain unutilised) can be fully utilised to the benefit of the poor. A bold and imaginative fiscal effort can be made, which can frustrate the neo-liberal policy of imposing expenditure deflation on state governments. The public sector can be brought back as a counter-weight to private corporate capital, by converting even small budgetary resources into large investible funds through imaginative methods of financial leveraging. This counter-weight can be used to place a clear limit on the extent to which the state government can accommodate the demands of would-be private investors, and to specify clear criteria, protective of the interests of the basic classes against corporate encroachment, on the basis of which alone approval can be given to such investors.

In short, the scope still exists to ensure that neo-liberalism’s attempt to derail the Left from its established development trajectory, to coerce it into accepting a neo-liberal trajectory instead, and to force it to adopt measures that would drive a wedge between itself and the basic classes on whose support the Left subsists, does not succeed. The Left Front government which has successfully waged many a battle will no doubt emerge triumphant from this one too.

THIRTY YEARS OF THE LEFT FRONT GOVERNMENT IN WEST BENGAL

Historical Outline

The formation of the Left Front Government in West Bengal was a culmination of decades of struggles by various sections of the people — workers, peasants, teachers, refugees and students — under the leadership of the Left, and its biggest component the CPI (M). Faced with the rising tide of struggles and the growing influence of the CPI (M) and the Left, the Congress government, which was formed after it blatantly rigged the elections in 1972, resorted to a reign of semi-fascist terror in West Bengal. The CPI (M) and the mass organizations faced the brunt of this repression. 1,100 Party workers and close sympathizers were killed.

In the general elections of 1977 the Congress was severely punished by the people of the country for its authoritarian and anti-democratic actions during the Emergency. The Janata Party Government was formed at the Centre with Morarji Desai as Prime Minister. The Assembly elections in West Bengal were held shortly after the general elections in 1977. The people came out to vote in very large numbers to get rid of the reign of terror. The Left Front won by over three-fourth majority.

While assuming office in 1977, the Left Front government was aware of the limitations of a State government in implementing pro-people policies within the existing Constitutional set-up. While the major responsibility of delivering services to the people was with the State Governments, financial resources were concentrated in the hands of the Centre. Keeping in mind this constraint, the Left Front government embarked upon a programme to provide immediate relief to the people and implementing alternative policies in spheres where the State government had some say. The major initiatives of the first Left Front government were to carry out thoroughgoing land reforms and establishing a vibrant Panchayati Raj. These historic initiatives broke the back of landlordism in the rural areas and immensely empowered the poor peasantry and agricultural workers. Large sections of the rural poor, especially the dalits, adivasis and minorities, gravitated towards the Left and the CPI (M). This section continues to be the most stable mass base of the CPI (M) and the Left Front till date. Several other pro-people initiatives were also undertaken regarding workers’ rights and social sector development, which benefited different sections of the people: factory workers, unorganised workers, government employees, school and college teachers, students, youth, women and the refugees. Through their experience, the majority of the people of West Bengal came to recognize the Left Front government as a pro-people government, a custodian of their rights and a fighter for their cause. Therefore, since 1977, neither did the people ever look back nor did the Left Front government.

Land Reforms, Democratic Decentralization and Agricultural Success

Land Reforms

The land reforms initiated in West Bengal had three major components: (i) effective imposition of land ceiling and vesting of ceiling surplus land (ii) redistribution of vested land among the landless cultivators and (iii) securing of tenancy rights of sharecroppers (bargadars) through a system of universal registration of tenant cultivators (Operation Barga). As a result of this thoroughgoing land reform programme, West Bengal today has the most egalitarian land ownership pattern in the entire country. While West Bengal accounts for only around 3% of agricultural land in India, it accounted for over 21% of ceiling surplus land that has been redistributed in India till date. The total number of beneficiaries of land redistribution in West Bengal is over 28 lakhs, which is almost 50% of all beneficiaries of land redistribution in post-independence India. The security of tenancy rights provided to the sharecroppers under Operation Barga was also unprecedented in India. The total number of recorded sharecroppers has reached over 15 lakhs, which accounts for over 20% of the total agricultural households in the State. Over 11 lakh acres of land was permanently brought under the control of sharecroppers and their right to cultivate land was firmly established.

After 30 years of Left Front rule, 84% of land in West Bengal is owned by small (owning 2.5 acres to 5 acres of land) and marginal farmers (owning less than 2.5 acres) today, while the all-India figure is only 43%. Over 12 lakh acres of ceiling surplus vested land is lying with various State governments today but not being distributed among the landless. This shows the difference in the political will of the Left Front government in West Bengal and other State governments run by bourgeois parties. Moreover, around 56% of the total beneficiaries of land redistribution in West Bengal are dalits and adivasis. Dalits and adivasis also comprise over 41% of the registered sharecroppers. NSS data show that the proportion of agricultural land owned by dalits in comparison with their proportion in the rural population of West Bengal is the second highest in the country (after Tripura). Till date, over 5.35 lakh women have been given joint pattas and 1.57 lakh women given individual pattas (ownership rights over land) in West Bengal. Muslims have also benefited significantly from the land reforms programme. The share of land cultivated by Muslims in West Bengal in total cultivated land is 25.6%, which is the second highest in the country (second only to Jammu and Kashmir where the share is 30.3%).

Following the onset of the neoliberal policies in the decade of 1990s, whatever land reform measures were undertaken in most Indian States in the post-independence period were sought to be reversed. However, in West Bengal an additional 95,000 acres of land was acquired in the 1990s under the land reform legislation and 94,000 acres redistributed. These figures for the decade of the 1990s account for almost all the land acquired and over 40 per cent of the land redistributed in the entire country. The Left Front government has continued with the land redistribution programme. 30,000 acres of land was distributed among landless families in 2006-07.

Panchayati Raj

Reorganisation of the system of local government has been one of the most important institutional changes brought about by the Left Front government. In the process, West Bengal has created a history of participation of the common people through the process of decentralisation. A system of democratic elections to local bodies at anchal, block and district level has been instituted: gram panchayats at the anchal level, panchayat samitis at the block level and zilla parishads at the district level. Elections to these local bodies were held in June 1978. The newly elected panchayats were involved with the execution of land reforms. Panchayats took the initiative in exposing benami land holdings, ensured the identification of excess land and the declaration of vested land and were also given charge of ensuring the legal rights of recipients of vested land and bargadars over land.

The panchayats were also involved in arrangements for the provision of institutional credit for the beneficiaries of vested land and for bargadars. After the rural development projects were devolved to panchayats for implementation, the beneficiaries of land reform were given priority in the receipt of benefits from these projects. This was possible because through the panchayat election of 1978, a new leadership was established at the helm of the rural bodies from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds. The erstwhile village elite, including landlords and moneylenders, lost their dominance over the newly elected local bodies. The new leadership after 1978 came out of the tradition of peasant upsurge and struggle for land reform of the past three decades.

The West Bengal government has held regular elections to local bodies every five years for the past 30 years. The aim has been to provide a substantial share of fiscal resources of the state to the local bodies. The West Bengal government has made a serious effort at devolving funds from the state government level to the lower tiers of administration. The panchayats have also been assigned a large and substantial range of responsibilities that were earlier seen as under the purview of the district-level bureaucracy. The panchayats perform civic duties and undertake developmental activities like construction and maintenance of hospitals, schools and libraries, promotion of agriculture, cooperatives and cottage industries, child welfare activities, etc. They play an important role in the local-level planning and implementation of government schemes. Panchayats in West Bengal have played an important role in activities like mobilising cooperation for improving agricultural production, management of local resources, and identification of beneficiaries for housing, poverty alleviation and social security programmes. This has made the panchayats a critical institution of local governance in the West Bengal countryside.

Over time, there has been an increase in the representation of the rural poor and of socially deprived groups like dalits and adivasis, as well as women, in the elected bodies. All this has helped to change the power equations in rural society as well as encouraged the social and political empowerment of social groups that were earlier marginalized. The proportions of dalit and adivasi panchayat representatives in all the three tiers are over 37% and 7% respectively, well over their share in population. Since 1995, one third of the seats and positions of chairpersons in the panchayati raj institutions have been reserved for women. It is noteworthy that the actual representation of women exceeds one third as a number of women candidates also win in the general constituencies. Presently, over 36% of the gram panchayat members are women. Also, 7 out of 17 zilla parishads have a woman sabhadhipati and 155 out of 351 panchayat samities have a woman sabhapati. In the late 1990s, the panchayati raj system in West Bengal was further strengthened by introducing gram sansads. These are the general councils of voters in every ward, that are required to meet twice a year with a minimum quorum of 10 per cent of voters to discuss the work done by the panchayats and utilisation of funds.

Successes in Agriculture

This strategy of the Left Front government; of implementing land reforms on the one hand and the establishment of an effective panchayati raj in West Bengal on the other; has not only led to the political empowerment of the rural poor but has also brought about a rejuvenation of agriculture in the State. Since the Left Front came into office in 1977, foodgrains production in West Bengal has grown at the rate of 6% per annum, which is the highest among seventeen most populous States of India. From a food deficit State witnessing famines and food riots during the Congress rule, West Bengal has emerged as a leading food producer in the country under the Left Front rule. West Bengal has emerged as the topmost producer of rice, vegetables and fish among all Indian States. Cropping intensity in West Bengal has increased from about 136% in 1980-81 to about 180% in 2000-01, second highest in the country. This has been achieved through significant expansion of irrigated land area through small and minor irrigation projects.

In the backdrop of the neoliberal policies being adopted by the Centre since early 1990s, agricultural growth has slowed down across the country. While agriculture grew at less than 2% in India during the Tenth Plan period (2002-2007), the growth rate of agriculture in West Bengal has been over 3.5%. The Left Front Government has been successful, to some extent, in insulating the agrarian economy of West Bengal from the acute agrarian distress currently being witnessed across the country. This has been possible by following pro-peasant policies. For instance, the charge for flow of water in agriculture under major irrigation has not been increased in West Bengal since 1977. Water for irrigation is the cheapest in West Bengal at Rs. 37 per hectare in West Bengal compared to Rs 156 to Rs 267 per hectare in the rest of the states of the country (except for Kerala where it is much lower). Agricultural workers are also protected and the minimum wage of Rs. 63 is implemented effectively, in contrast to many other States where despite the scheduled minimum wage rates being higher, they are not implemented effectively.

Industrialization: An Imperative

Reversing Industrial Stagnation

For most parts of its lengthy tenure, the Left Front government has had to encounter hostile governments at the Centre. There was a conscious effort on the part of successive Central governments, particularly those run by the Congress, to discourage industrialization in West Bengal since it was a Left ruled State. This was done both through a denial of public sector investment as well as licenses for setting up private industries. During Indira Gandhi’s tenure as the Prime minister in the early 1980s, a proposal for setting up an electronics complex in Salt Lake near Kolkata was shot down by the Central government on security grounds, because West Bengal was a border State! Permission for the Haldia Petrochemical project was withheld by the Central government for 11 long years. The freight equalization policy; which meant that railway freight rates of industrial inputs like coal, iron ore, steel or cement were structured in a way through Government subsidies so that they were available at the same price in all parts of the country; also became a major obstacle. This robbed West Bengal, along with the other states in the Eastern region of India like Bihar and Orissa, of its locational advantage of being rich in those minerals which came under the purview of freight equalization. Other industrial inputs were not included in the freight equalization scheme.

Following these discriminatory policies pursued by the Centre and the vitriolic anti-Communist propaganda carried out by the bourgeois media, which led to some degree of capital flight, West Bengal experienced industrial stagnation during the decade of the 1980s. Traditional industries like tea, jute and engineering were on a decline. This aggravated the unemployment situation in the State, especially in the urban areas, besides causing hardships for the workers in the sick industries. The need was felt to make special efforts to reverse the trend towards industrial stagnation and re-industrialize West Bengal.

Meanwhile, a big policy shift had come at the national level when the Narasimha Rao led Congress Government adopted the “New Economic Policies” in 1991 following the dictates of the IMF and the World Bank. The neoliberal “economic reforms” initiated by the Central government abandoned the earlier emphasis on public sector investment, devised a strategy of liberalizing and deregulating the economy and laid emphasis on private capital, both domestic and foreign, as the main driver of economic growth. These policy changes were clearly in the rightwing direction, which was opposed by the CPI (M) and the Left. However, it also meant an end to the discriminatory policy regime of the Central government, based upon licensing and freight equalization policy, which had caused enormous harm to the economic interests of West Bengal. It was in this backdrop that the Left Front government had to devise its industrialization strategy. In September 1994, Comrade Jyoti Basu announced the Industrial Policy of the Left Front government in the changed scenario, which stated: “we are all for new technology and investment in selective spheres where they help our economy and which are of mutual interest. The goal of self-reliance, however, is as needed today as earlier. We have the state sector, the private sector and also the joint sector. All these have a role to play”. Following the adoption of the Industrial Policy, the industrial scenario in the state witnessed a turnaround, with important projects like Haldia Petrochemicals and Bakreshwar Thermal Power plants finally being set up.

Industrialization Gathering Momentum

The process of industrialization received further impetus after the Left Front government registered its sixth consecutive victory with Comrade Buddhadeb Bhattacharya as Chief Minister in 2001 and subsequently its seventh victory in 2006, with an enhanced majority. During the period from 1991 to 2006 a total number of 1,391 industrial units have been set up in West Bengal with a realized investment of Rs. 32,338.95 crore and creating direct employment for 2.03 lakh persons in the organized sector. The number of new industrial proposals in West Bengal is increasing progressively, especially in sectors like Iron and Steel, Chemical and Petrochemicals, Food Processing and Information Technology.

Since the thrust of the West Bengal government’s industrial strategy is on employment generation, the focus is not limited to big industries alone. The State government has consciously provided policy support to small and micro enterprises, because of which the number of unorganised manufacturing enterprises in West Bengal has increased from 19.1 lakhs in 1994-95 to 27.7 lakhs in 2000-01, with employment in these industries during this period increasing from 43.8 lakhs to 58.7 lakh. West Bengal now ranks first among all Indian States in respect to both the number of working units and employment generation in the small-scale industrial sector. The West Bengal government is providing infrastructure support to the small-scale industries by building industrial clusters in all districts of the State, with a target of 150 such clusters set for the Eleventh Plan period.

Unlike other State governments, which succumbed to the neoliberal prescriptions of the Centre, the Left Front government has followed a different approach towards industrialization. Rather than following the policy of indiscriminate privatization of public sector units, the Left Front government has sought to strengthen them and earnestly tried to revive sick or closed industrial units. By repeatedly placing its views before the BIFR in the interest of industry and workers, the Left Front government has been able to obtain the sanction of revival scheme in respect of 79 units. Of these, 22 units have already been revived and about 25 more units are likely to be revived.

SAIL has recently decided to invest Rs. 10,000 crore in the modernization of the IISCO factory at Burnpur, which will be one of the biggest public sector investment projects currently being undertaken in the country. The Central government had earlier decided to privatize this sick unit. It was the protracted struggle waged by the IISCO workers and the principled position adopted by the West Bengal Government, which prevented privatization and has subsequently led to the revival of IISCO. Similarly, Bengal Chemicals, which had become a sick PSU, is being revived with Central investments worth Rs 440 crore. Recently, two public sector units, Coal India Limited and Damodar Valley Corporation have come together to acquire and revive the Mining and Allied Machineries Corporation (MAMC) based in Durgapur, a prestigious PSU that was closed few years ago. Closed units like Jessop and Dunlop have also been reopened. Rather than following the dictates of the Central government in privatizing the State Electricity Board, the West Bengal government has firmly maintained the public ownership of the WBSEB and initiated reforms to improve its performance. The WBSEB, which was a loss making entity till recently, registered a profit of Rs. 300 crore in 2006-07. All this reflect the alternative approach of the left front government.

Some controversy has arisen recently over acquisition of agricultural land for setting up industries in West Bengal, especially in the context of the Tata Motors plant in Singur and a proposed chemical hub near Haldia. While the opportunistic gang-up of the entire opposition, from the ultra-Right to the ultra-Left led by the reactionary Trinamul Congress, has sought to pitch the debate in terms of industry versus agriculture, the Left Front government has repeatedly emphasized the need for a balanced and harmonious development of both sectors. The slogan of “agriculture is our foundation, industry our future”, put forward by the Left Front before the Assembly elections of 2006 has received wide acceptance among the people.

Pro-People Initiatives and Constraints

Education

The Left Front government in West Bengal has undertaken several pro-people initiatives to ensure all-round development of the State. The Left Front government has ensured significant expansion in the spheres of public education and health. The first Left Front government had made school education free upto the higher secondary stage. With a thrust on the expansion of school education, the number of schools in West Bengal has seen a substantial increase in the post-1977 period, with the number of secondary and higher secondary schools registering a four fold increase, from 4600 in 1977 to over 22,500 in 2006. Accordingly, the number of students appearing for the secondary board examination has increased from a little over 2 lakhs in 1977 to over 7.5 lakhs in 2006.

Positive results have also been seen recently in the implementation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, with the net enrolment ratio of children of the relevant age group (5+ to 8+) exceeding 98% in 2006-07. The drop-out ratio has also fallen below 20% due to the effective implementation of the mid-day meals scheme, which now covers 94% of the primary schools in the State. This has been made possible through the involvement of Self-Help Groups in providing cooked meals in the schools.

Health

West Bengal has witnessed significant improvements in some health indicators in the recent past. The death rate in West Bengal at 6.4 per thousand is the lowest in the country. The infant mortality rate has also dropped to 38 per 1000 live births, which is much lower than the national average at 58. The birth rate in the urban areas of West Bengal is the lowest within urban areas of the country and the total fertility rate has also fallen much below the national average, with the State heading towards achieving the population stabilization goal by the end of the Eleventh Plan. This has been possible due to active government intervention in the sphere of public health.

West Bengal has also registered significant successes in providing access to toilets and safe drinking water, especially to the poorer section of the population. The State government had set a goal of providing 40 litres of safe drinking water per capita per day in each habitation in the rural areas. Already, 81% of the 91320 rural habitations of the State have been covered fully. This is the second highest coverage achieved by a State in the country. As far as sanitation is concerned, West Bengal has the second highest coverage of access to toilets for all BPL households as well as for all Scheduled Caste households in urban areas, in the country. These have been possible due to the concerted efforts by the State government and the local bodies in the implementation of the programmes.

The National Health Accounts published by the Union Ministry of Health in 2001-02 showed that public expenditure on health in West Bengal was the second highest in the country (Maharashtra had the highest figure). In fact, around 80% of the indoor patients in West Bengal today are treated in Government hospitals, while the all-India figure stands at only 50%. This obviously translates into affordable healthcare for the people. The total per capita health expenditure in West Bengal was lower than the national average on account of very low private expenditure on health compared to other States. While the per capita health expenditure in West Bengal needs to increase substantially, what is noteworthy is the effort on the part of the government to commit substantial resources for public health in a fiscally constrained scenario.

Workers’ Rights

The Left Front government has firmly defended the trade union rights of the workers. It has also taken important steps to provide social security to workers like introducing a provident fund scheme for unorganised sector workers for the first time in the country (nearly 7.9 lakh workers have already joined the scheme so far), providing financial assistance of Rs. 750 per month to workers of closed factories and tea gardens and providing social security to the construction workers.

Another important development in West Bengal in the recent years from the point of view of employment generation is the phenomenal growth of Self-Help Groups (SHGs). The total number of SHGs in West Bengal reached 3.8 lakhs in 2005-06, involving nearly 38 lakh persons, 90% of whom are women. This has opened up new possibilities for self-employment and women’s empowerment. When the seventh Left Front government assumed office in 2006, a dedicated Ministry to provide policy support to these SHGs was created.

Minority Welfare

The Left Front government has also taken positive initiatives to uplift the Muslim minorities, who comprise over 26% of the State’s population and are socio-economically backward. The West Bengal Minority Development Finance Corporation (WBMFDC), which was formed in 1996 following the passage of an Act in the State Assembly, provides training as well as soft loans for self-employment and scholarships for meritorious students among Muslims. The WBMFDC ranks second, both in terms of cumulative disbursement of funds (from 1994-95 to 2005-06) as well as the number of beneficiaries, among all the State level minority development corporations. It has disbursed Rs.10751 crore to 28904 beneficiaries over this period. If the fact that the Uttar Pradesh MFDC started disbursing funds from 1994-95 (i.e. two years before the WBMFDC started disbursing funds) is taken into account, then the performance of the WBMFDC clearly emerges as the best in the country.

Challenges and Constraints

There is no doubt that the West Bengal government needs to do much more as far as people’s welfare is concerned, especially for the socio-economically disadvantaged groups. The areas in which improvement has to be brought about have been noted by the West Bengal Human Development Report 2004. The Sachar Committee Report 2006 also pointed towards the necessity of adopting concrete steps for the upliftment of the Muslim minorities. The Left Front government has been proactive in taking initiatives to do away with the shortcomings that continue to exist in its developmental effort. For instance, the Left Front government was the first State government to announce a sub-Plan for minorities at the State level, earmarking 15% of all Plan expenditure for development programmes meant to benefit minorities and implement the recommendations of the Sachar Committee. Several new initiatives have also been taken to improve the quality of public service in school education and public health in order to improve the human development scenario.

However, the capacity of the Left Front government to deliver in the spheres of peoples’ welfare and social infrastructure has been severely constrained by the limited availability of resources. Unless the resource constraint is overcome, major welfare initiatives cannot be undertaken. While a part of the additional resources can be generated through internal resource mobilization, much depends upon the direction of economic and social policies of the Central government too. The power to take crucial economic policy decisions in India rests with the Central government and not the State governments.

Within the existing Constitutional set up, while the State governments are expected to deliver upon a lot of responsibilities related to development and peoples’ welfare, the financial resources available to them have remained extremely limited given the skewed nature of Centre-State relations. The skewedness in Centre-State relations has aggravated in the post-liberalization period. Finances of most State governments have worsened due to growing indebtedness, squeeze in resource transfers from the Central Government to the States, rising interest cost of States’ debt and conditionalities regarding fiscal austerity imposed upon State governments through successive Finance Commissions and the Planning Commission. The Left Front government in West Bengal has also not been able to escape this predicament.

The Left Front government has tried to resist the neoliberal reforms imposed by the Central government. For instance, the West Bengal Government has rejected the dictate of the Centre regarding the enactment of the neoliberal Fiscal Responsibility legislation, which in effect binds the capacity of the state governments to undertake development expenditure. Alongwith the Left led Governments of Kerala and Tripura, the West Bengal government also resisted attempts by the Centre to force all States to undertake neoliberal pension reforms, which seeks to privatize the pension system. Similar unity between the Left led governments was on display during a recent meeting of the National Development Council on Agriculture, where efforts were made by the Centre to impose reforms of the State level APMC Acts and get all the States to endorse contract farming by corporates. The struggle for restructuring Centre-State relations is crucial for creating the autonomous space for the Left Front government to continue with its pro-people policies in future.

Conclusion

A big achievement of the Left Front government in West Bengal is its record in safeguarding democratic rights. Notwithstanding the vicious campaigns unleashed against it from time to time by its opponents, the Left Front government continues to remain firmly committed to democratic values and principles. Its impeccable record in upholding secularism and communal harmony, dealing with communal elements with a firm hand and defending the rights of minorities is a welcome exception to the programmatic or pragmatic communalism practiced by the bourgeois parties and the State governments led by them. The fact that the communal RSS-BJP combine have failed to gain any significant foothold in the State is primarily because of the relentless ideological-political campaign against communalism, in which the Left Front government leads from the front. While dalits and adivasis across the country continue to be victims of caste violence, it is indeed heartening to find that West Bengal has an almost zero rate of atrocities against dalits and adivasis. The Left Front government also has the distinction of resolving the Gorkhaland issue, in a just and democratic manner within the framework of the Indian Constitution, by providing regional autonomy to the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.

Born out of the struggles against authoritarianism and State repression, it is the commitment of the Left Front government to democracy, which has won it enormous credibility in the eyes of the people of West Bengal and enabled it to complete thirty years in office.

This incisive and thought provoking article was created on 2007-07-19 and contributed by Prasenjit Bose. He is a PhD in Economics from JNU, and is currently into full time research.