Mamata ‘keeps' her promise

On the first day of her Chief Ministership — whether it will be a historic era for West Bengal is yet to be seen — Ms Mamata Banerjee got her Cabinet to “return 400 acres to unwilling farmers in Singur”, a step she has all along espoused while in the Opposition, ever since the land acquisition problem centering on the Tata small car project blew up in late 2006.

In fact, to many people, the Singur issue — specifically the ham-handed manner in which the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee administration went ahead with the project — was the issue which gave Ms Banerjee her chance to wrest the political initiative from a moribund Left Front Government, which had lost the ability to rule, but which had perfected the art of making the most of the existing electoral exercise under the Constitution, which had ensured for it a string of poll triumphs even when popular discontent had grown to gargantuan proportions.

Return of Singur

As the new Chief Minister said, when referring to the withdrawal of Central forces from Jangalmahal (the Maoist-infected area which shot into prominence during the past year, particularly when the Left Front Government charged the Trinamool Congress with working hand-in-glove with the extremists in the region), “Remember this, I have always kept my promises”. Admittedly, Ms Banerjee has been true to her promise on the return of Singur land when she made her declaration referred to above.

But, of course, making a statement is the easiest part of the process of keeping one's word. It now remains to be seen how precisely the land will be given back to its former owners, and whether what remains after the exercise — namely, the roughly 600 acres acquired “properly” — can be effectively made to contribute to the industrial development of the State.

Another crucial decision taken by the new Government relates to making the Kolkata Municipal Corporation the nodal agency for civic affairs over a much larger area than previously, which is clearly a step in the right direction in terms of greater efficiency and proper accountability. But, of course, this is the easiest part of the exercise in hand because it relates to the structure of operations.

Real development

What the people of Kolkata and the suburbs want is real development, meaning, to take a couple of examples, a vast improvement in the city's water supply and the state of its roads. Will Ms Mamata Banerjee be able to deliver in these areas which, incidentally, would constitute not even a drop in the vast ocean of problems which civic set-ups of the past headed by all political parties have left for the present KMC to clear up?

Among other things, the Chief Minister said: “Political interference comes in the way of performance. We shall not look at any political colour. Efficiency and performance will be the yardsticks while working”. Again, this is just a mere statement which, by itself, will not induce any appreciable change in the State's work culture. Ms Banerjee is, of course, fully aware of this because she herself works her guts out in whatever she is engaged in. The problem is with her Cabinet colleagues setting the right example in the right direction.

To quote her once again, she said: “I don't blame the workers. The (right work) culture should trickle down from the top”.

The problem is that, unfortunately, the Trinamool Congress without Ms Banerjee is a big zero. This is the weakest link, and it remains to be seen how the new Chief Minister will repair it.