COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

After camaraderie with capitalists, Basu's Bengal to see strikes, protests over price rise

Arup Chanda in Calcutta

A fortnight after West Bengal's Marxist Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and his men rubbed shoulders with captains of India's industry, the Communist Party of India-Marxist labour wing, the Centre for Indian Trade Unions, has proved that the state had no intention of ushering in industrialisation.

From next Monday, a week of strikes and protest actions begins in West Bengal and normal life is expected to be totally paralysed.

On February 8, the Congress' trade union, the Indian National Trade Union Congress, has called a general strike. The next day, on February 9, is the nationwide protest day by Left parties, followed by the Trinamul Congress rally at the Brigade Parade ground on February 10. And on February 12, it is the turn of the state Congress to observe a general strike.

Initially, a state-wide general strike was called by the INTUC to protest against the hike in prices of essential commodities by the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre.

The maverick West Bengal INTUC president, Subrata Mukherjee, appealed even to the Leftist trade unions to support the strike. None of the Left trade unions had then decided to observe the strike.

What honey is to bees, strike seems to be to trade unions, observers reckoned, as the CITU promptly decided yesterday to observe the strike.

The CPI-M state secretariat convened a special meeting and endorsed the INTUC-sponsored strike. The Left Front too discussed the issue and decided to go ahead with the strike.

The CPI-M asked the Congress to put off its February 12 strike and join with the trade unions.

However, the Congress did not relent as it will be protesting against "Left's failure on the industrial front" and is not willing to be part of any strike sponsored by the CPI-M.

According to state CITU general secretary Chittabrata Majumdar, "The prices of urea, sugar and cooking gas have not been reduced totally. This will affect not only the middle class but also the poorer sections of the society. The strike will prove the point that we want the prices of these items to be reduced."

Majumdar went on to state that even after Monday's strike, the trade unions would chalk out a fresh course of agitation.

Mukherjee supported the CITU and stated: "We are not happy with the rollback. It is not reason enough for us to call off the strike."

However, none of the political parties or trade unions has bothered to delve into the issue that whether cooking gas is at all used by the poor and hence should be subsidised.

The state Congress, which wants to show that "it is different", resolved that its strike was not only to protest against the price rise by the BJP government at the Centre but also against the Left Front government's "dismal performance in industry in West Bengal".

The resolution stated, "The Congress cannot ignore that the CPI-M in West Bengal has just remained a passive onlooker to the sufferings of industrial workers."

But, it is Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee who has surprised all. She had always been in the forefront of all agitations and protests against price rise but being an ally of the BJP, she is opposed to these strikes.

Instead, she alleged that the strikes were called "to sabotage" her rally on February 10. Mamata's rallies are infamous for being violent and throwing life out of gear in this metropolis.

Enquiries at many travel agencies revealed that many industrialists and businessmen will fly out of Calcutta this weekend as staying here will be sheer waste of time for them. The destinations for most of these businessmen are Bombay, Bangalore and Delhi where general strikes are rare.

Some of them admitted that protests against price hikes or on other political issues are legitimate weapons for political parties but point out that resorting to general strikes too often is common only in West Bengal and Kerala, which are ruled by the Marxists.

However, the Marxist rulers of West Bengal do not agree.

Jyoti Basu felt the way prices of essential commodities had increased a nationwide protest was needed and the decision to call a general strike was not unjust.

CPI-M state secretary Anil Biswas said the general strike would not convey wrong signals to prospective investors. On the other hand it was the correct form of protest.

But then, all seem to have forgotten the report submitted by the US consultancy firm, McKinsey and Company.

According to McKinsey's statistics, in 1995 alone more than 3.8 million man-days have been lost in West Bengal because of strikes. The figure is twice that of what was lost in Maharashtra and more than four times that of Gujarat.

The two subsequent general strikes next week will certainly touch this figure in 1999 and if there are more strikes this year the figure might double.

At Destination Bengal at Raichak on January 17, Basu and his men had spoken about dealing firmly with industrial strife and militant trade unionism. Industrialists were wooed to invest in the state and given hordes of assurances.

According to Basu, trade unions throughout the world have the right to resort to strikes.

Basu is confident these strikes will not send wrong signals to prospective investors.

Business News

West Bengal