Indra’s Drishtikona (Viewpoint)

An Open Letter to West Bengal’s Chief Minister

Posted : April 5, 2005 at 11:40 pm [IST]

I was so happy when Premji declared you as the best Chief Minister of India. I thought good days are nearer for West Bengal and it will move fast to be the best again- Sonar Bangla or the state for which it was famous that ‘what Bengal thinks today, the whole India thinks tomorrow’. However, when Premji talked of 6 bandhs in 2 months or so last week, I went into a literal depression. It is more so as I am an alumnus of Presidency (55-57) and IIT (57-61).

I have a great regard for the knowledge and culture for the state where I was brought up, educated, and lived. I have worked, prospered, and suffered too, because of my trust in people. As one interested in art, drama and culture, you can appreciate my agony.

I have a request. Be a little tough with both the employers as well as employees.

Ask employers to prove on 3 Es as performance criteria:

Employ, Earn, Export

  Employ more and expand capacity to global scale.

  Earn profits, brand name, and global recognition

  Export extensively as a strategy with innovative design, better quality, and lower cost.

Request, appeal, and ask the employees to agree to accept 3Ps:

Prove, Produce, Prosper

  Prove that they can change, can contribute with innovations at work, and meet the enterprise goals individually and as a team.
  Produce the maximum and the best that any one anywhere in the world can do. (Our productivity is the lowest in almost every area.)
  Prosper with ensured earnings and increasing national GDP

Please motivate the professionals to take up entrepreneurship and set up enterprises. In today’s world, particularly in knowledge industry, one need not come from a rich family to succeed in business.

Please ask the industrialists to change their mindset for growing in percentage. They must grow in multiples. And it is possible.

The nature has bestowed on the state many advantages of fertile land with plenty of water. Please facilitate the people to go whole hog in agri-based industries, horticulture, and floriculture. There is so much of scope of exports, if we improve our quality. Even the quality of potatoes and tomatoes are to be improved with inputs from agriculture scientists so that it becomes acceptable in export market. Please involve the institutes and the professionals there in the task in agriculture and industry.

Bengal is so rich in its skill and design of textiles that is having a rural base suitable for increased employment. Only the products are to be suitable to the tastes of the global customers. Let the government facilitate that. If Bangladesh can grow as a major textile and apparel exporter in world, why West Bengal can’t.

W. Bengal can become a global hub of foundries and machining of engineering components. Please facilitate some entrepreneurs such as Ashok Leyland or Tata Motors to provide a lead. Texmaco and Jessops are already there in Kolkata. Durgapur, Kharagpur, Burdwan, Asansol- all can again become the leader in engineering industry.

And in tourism, if properly marketed, the state can attract huge number of foreigners during puja festivals that go on for almost months.

Please be a benchmark for the other state, taking the success of poultry of Tamilnadu, milk of Gujarat, IT of Karnataka, cultivation excellence of Punjab and Haryana as benchmarks.

Bengal is lucky to have a population who is so much conscious about the education of their children. The coming generation can do wonder, if the government facilitates and can change with time. However, the guardians require orientations about new branches of professions. They need not press their children unnecessarily to compete in IITs and IIMs or only for engineering and medical degrees. If someone becomes proficient in any area, there is lot of demand. The schools must teach not only English, but also other European languages, and perhaps Chinese.

I feel with communists in chair, your state does not suffer from the ills of caste systems prevalent in other northern states. However, why can’t you drop the caste based titles too?

Let us pray and work to change the future course

- Indra

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