That Mamata show again
Mindless populism, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a group of Trinamool Congress MPs recently , does not make for good governance. Many in the party are just hoping this sane advice will make some impact on their leader Mamata Banerjee. Because, they say, West Bengal cannot afford to once again suffer the cumulative effect of reckless populism.
That apart, there are other things that are making people cringe. Mamata's famous whimsicality is already in abundant display, and tales of her impulsive deeds have started piling up. On November 6, she rushed to a police station near her residence to placate a mob (members of two 'clubs' that are patronized by her brothers) that was angry over cops' attempts to stop them from blaring loudspeakers and bursting firecrackers in front of a hospital late in the evening while taking out a religious procession. The chief minister then, quite incredibly , got some of those who were detained for assaulting the cops released. A few days later, two officers who had acted against the crowd were transferred.
At another level, the mess that has visited Bengal's already-tottering power sector due to the propensity of the Bengal CM to play to the gallery offers a peek into the dark days that lie ahead for the state. Her refusal to allow the state's power utilities to hike tariff has bled the companies, which face a combined revenue shortfall of Rs 250 crore a month. They have already exhausted their borrowing limit of Rs 2,500 crore from banks to meet the deficit and owe Rs 600 crore toCoal India Limited (CIL). With CIL refusing to extend any more credit, Bengal's thermal power plants have been forced to cut down generation, resulting in prolonged power cuts. "Come summers when demand increases, the situation will be much worse," warns a top official of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company that is reeling under a Rs 900 crore debt burden. Mamata won't allow a tariff revision as that goes against her stated policy of not raising user charges on anything.
Her avowed hands-off policy on land acquisition for private industries might also cost the state dear. Industrialists have already told her that this policy is a huge deterrent for fresh investments . Despite all the hardselling of Bengal as an investment destination by Mamata and her team, investment proposals have so far been a trickle, forcing her to pull strings in New Delhi and get central PSUs like SAIL and GAIL to announce investments in the region. But then, such proposals are subject to the vagaries of politics and changes in power dispensations can dramatically alter their fate. And while the shadow of Nano's unceremonious exit hangs heavy over Bengal, the new government's late night attempt to take over the land leased out to Tata Motors at Singur has only left a bitter aftertaste that will ward off potential investors.
To be fair, Mamata inherited a white elephant from the previous Left Front government - nearly empty coffers and an astronomical debt of Rs 2.03 lakh crore. So far, though, no one has shown any sagacity in managing the state's finances . Her shrill demands for a bail-out package from New Delhi have not been followed up by the mandatory roadmap for increasing revenue generation and enforcing fiscal discipline. "The central government has been repeatedly asking the state to submit such a roadmap, but nothing has been forthcoming. Mamata Banerjee does not understand that there are set norms and procedures to be followed in such matters. Even for the promised funds for development of backward areas or agriculture, no concrete plans on how the funds would be utilized have been submitted by the state government ," said a finance department bureaucrat . "Avenues to raise revenue generation in Bengal are limited due to the minimal presence of the organized sector. So raising user charges on various services is the only way out and this government is loath to do that," the bureaucrat explained. And this failure to submit roadmaps is evidence of her inability to get Bengal's notoriously lethargic bureaucracy to reform and function.
Mamata's style of functioning, too, hasn't given confidence to bureaucrats and ministers working under her. Most are mortally scared of her and she has been known to rebuke them even in public . No decisions are taken without her prior approval, all files are referred to the CMO and ministers are careful to give her credit for even minor decisions. Then, there are yes-men and women all around her.
Some of her U-turns have been baffling - the most prominent being her stand on Maoists. While in the opposition in Bengal, she cried herself hoarse demanding withdrawal of central paramilitary forces deployed to carry out anti-Maoist operations. After becoming CM, she has not only allowed the forces to operate, but is also planning to ramp up the offensive against the ultra-leftists .
Her silence over the deaths of infants at the state's only referral hospital for children in Kolkata was not only deafening but in sharp contrast to her condemnation and demand for the then health minister's resignation (she retains the health portfolio now) when this happened during the Left Front regime.
Also, despite her promise to refrain from political vendetta, her party men have been hounding CPM cadres, attacking them and driving them away from their villages in a replay of what she often accused the CPM of. There are wide-scale allegations of some of her cadres extorting money from businessmen , traders and industrialists.
Mamata has her virtues - a clean image, simple lifestyle and the humane touch that has so endeared her to the masses. But she will have to focus on key matters like policy and transparency if the battered and bruised state is to come out better by the time her term ends. Populism, as the PM said, is simply not an option that Bengal can afford any longer. Mamata will have to realize that - quickly.
FLIP-FLOP
POLICY ON MAOISTS : While in opposition, she demanded withdrawal of central paramilitary forces and halt in operations against the Maoists. She promised to free all Maoists in jails. Till today, no Maoist has been released and central forces are expected to ramp up operations
EDUCATION AND CULTURE: She promised to depoliticize both, but has now packed education and cultural bodies with her supporters
PULL-OUT THREAT: Mamata denied that last week's threat to pull out of the UPA was an arm-twisting tactic to get a liberal financial package for Bengal. However, her meeting with Pranab Mukherjee the same evening as her party MPs were dispatched to meet the PM (to protest the petrol price hike) at which she repeated her demand for financial aid, gave the lie to her denial
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