The uncharacteristically silent finance minister of West Bengal, Amit Mitra, responds to whether the TMC government has been “populist”, and how the state has boosted sentiment as much as investment. Excerpts from a rare interview with Pragya Singh:
West Bengal is growing at over 7 per cent, but do such numbers matter to the electorate?
The people of Bengal don’t have to know these statistics to know what they see with their own eyes. They know that whereas capital expenditure had shrunk under the Left government by 26 per cent, we raised it by six times. They know this because they see the impact. We reversed the absolute stoppage of spending on infrastructure, built schools, hospitals and roads. People can see all this.
Yet, the perception seems to be that people are scared of the TMC.
Scared? Just see how we have brought under control all the past maara-maari and gunda-gardi of the Left. Besides, the CPI(M) and other Left (parties) are still attacking our campaigners...
What are these elections all about? What is the critical issue?
The basic messaging is about development, of social infrastructure in particular. We are talking about what the common man uses and needs, what they rely on, like healthcare and education—things that are currently not the concern of the media, it seems.
What exactly are your development achievements? Business has not really got a leg up in the recent years.
The best measure of an economic uptick is bank loans. West Bengal is now the number one in lending to medium and small enterprises. Would there be lending if there wasn’t potential? Even our taxes got a double boost—we literally doubled the collections.
Your critics feel your government is populist, and tweaking, not reforming....
If social infrastructure, roads, drainage and schooling is populism, then I’m happy to be populist. We have 170 ITIs where there were 80, 15 new universities, and so much more. These ‘populist’ measures I fully endorse.
Yet, TMC workers are accused of violence. That can’t be good for business surely?
This is a ridiculous assertion, for I know the violence inflicted by the previous government. They indulged in organised, fascist violence, which nobody talked about though it went on for years until Nandigram and Singur happened. Mamata Banerjee’s very slogan was: “No revenge, we want change”.
But that change isn’t here. After all, the economy is still in doldrums.
But Bengal had seen the biggest-ever flight of capital as well. We started from a point where 55,000 factories had been closed, under the previous regime.
What investment proposals are firm, from your recent efforts to invite business to Bengal?
A Rs 700-crore cement plant, as part of massive expansion by Emami group. Siddharth Birla wants to set up his most advanced factory—with the air inside cleaner than a hospital! Y.K. Modi wants to set up another coal bed methane unit. Puneet Dalmia has said, dealing with Bengal was his best experience with an Indian state.
Yet, the Tatas have closed a consulting outfit in Calcutta just this month.
I know nothing of this. In fact, TCS is adding a new facility (which is almost ready), for 20,000 more staffers. Cognizant, during our regime, added 55,000 people.
