Tuesday, Oct 01, 2002
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West Bengal
By Malabika Bhattacharya
On Sunday, Mr. Bhattacharjee took the air-conditioned chair car to go to North Bengal instead of resorting to the usual practice of having a fully reserved compartment. He returned to the city after two days the same way.
"This is no time for luxury. I told my officers that you need not reserve a compartment for my security. I will travel with the others,'' Mr. Bhattacharjee said.
That Bengal is trapped in a financial blackhole became evident sometime ago when the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Government, announced that it was in no position to pay full bonus to its employees this festive season. Predictably, the announcement of a slashed bonus raised a storm as a result of which a section of the employees staged a pen-down strike in Writers' Buildings, the State headquarters a few days ago. The partners of the ruling Left Front, too, were unhappy with the decision as they thought that a good number of employees who currently owed allegiance to the leftist labour unions might unfurl the flag of revolt in the coming days. The teachers in the State-run schools had been feeling the financial crunch for a long time.
The financial crisis was not exactly unexpected. The CAG report had pointed out the State's inability to increase revenue income and control rising expenditures.
It said that in 2000 the ways and means advance and overdraft from the Reserve Bank at crucial moments had saved Bengal from bankruptcy.
The Government would often utilise funds raised for the Industrial Infrastructure Development to make payments to employees, the report said.
The crisis is so deep that the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Government has undertaken an austerity drive.
The Chief Minister is travelling in the economy class even in trains and the Ministers are holding official functions sans frills. The Government has also told the bureaucrats not to spend money without the Finance Minister's consent.
As things stand now, the Centre has offered a Rs. 878 crore mid-term loan to Mr. Bhattacharjee's Government which, the latter says, would partly help it to face a crisis like this.
The loan , on an interest of 7 to 8 per cent , had a moratorium of three years on the principal and was the result of discussions at a high-power committee meeting which was held sometime ago to assess the fiscal problems of States.
Meanwhile the Bengal Congress has demanded a white paper on the financial crunch.The State party president, Pranab Mukherjee, held the Left Front Government responsible for the current financial crisis.
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