Reality can be divided for the sake of analytical convenience into principles and practicalities. The former relates to what should be done or needs to be done — the imperatives, as it were. The practicalities concern viability and implementation — the obstacles that lie in the path of translating principles into action.

The reality in West Bengal is that the state is economically backward. There are historical reasons for this. The flight of capital because of political violence, irresponsible trade unionism, the erosion of work culture — these are some of the factors that are seen as being behind West Bengal’s lack of economic progress. To this can be added the penchant of the middle class and the intelligentsia of the state for matters cultural rather than issues economic. While industry has languished and capital has fled during the 30-odd years of communist rule, the agrarian sector — both production and structure of production relations — has undergone a radical transformation. Agriculture production has grown and through a land reforms programme people involved in agriculture, who previously had no rights in land, have been given certain rights. This transformation has failed, however, to alter the fact that agriculture in West Bengal is small-scale and that farm plots are disaggregated. One result of this is that agricultural output and growth have reached their limits.

This is an undeniable aspect of reality. The alternative is to spur on industrialization by attracting capital, especially in the manufacturing sector. This alternative is also undeniable in principle. But another aspect of West Bengal’s reality prevents the rapid implementation of a policy of industrialization. Any policy of industrialization will entail a change in land use: agricultural land must be taken over for industries. This is not as easy as it sounds. The disaggregated nature of land holdings and the proliferation of land rights prevent private capitalists from buying land in consolidated plots for industrial units. The policy of state acquisition of agricultural land provokes, as recent events have demonstrated, political opposition.

Thus Nirupam Sen, the state’s industry minister, only stated the obvious when he said that whoever is in government will realize that there is no alternative to industrialization if West Bengal is to grow economically. His own experience and that of his own government have been bitter in this regard. Despite this, what he left unsaid was that the industrial transformation of West Bengal cannot be the responsibility of governments and political parties alone. It is the responsibility of the society of West Bengal. And it has never been clear what the people who live in West Bengal think about this matter of critical importance for the future of the state.