Perhaps in many neglected spots of West Bengal, there are gems of purest ray serene. The Telegraph picked up one such gem: Anshuman Panda, who from the outskirts of Bankura has won for himself a full scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr Panda achieved this completely on his own steam; in the process he even taught himself how to use the computer. Mr Panda’s achievements, somewhat unsung, except in the pages of The Telegraph, provide important clues to the state of affairs in the realm of education in West Bengal. What is obvious is that the state is not devoid of talent; it has never been and it isn’t today. This is despite the best efforts of the present political dispensation to steamroll everything down to the level of an acceptable and submissive mediocrity. The acceptance has to come from Alimuddin Street and the submission has to be to the god called the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

If this sounds like too harsh a commentary on the state of education in West Bengal, then take the details concerning the life of Mr Panda. He lives only 270 kilometres from Calcutta, yet he had no access to a computer in his school and had to walk one kilometre to reach the nearest cybercafé. This in a state whose chief minister sees the information technology sector as the thrust area in his dream project to transform West Bengal. Add to this the fact that Mr Panda is no ordinary student; he ranked sixth in the Madhyamik examination and is expected, by his teachers, to be on the merit list of the higher secondary examination. What is evident, therefore, is that even the best in West Bengal do not have access to some of the rudimentary features of the modern education system. Large numbers of students in West Bengal are emerging from their schools without the skills to use modern technology, which is absolutely necessary for access to information and knowledge. Take another angle: it is now nearly a week since Mr Panda’s remarkable achievement became public news. There has been no gesture from the West Bengal government to help him get to MIT. The indifference is telling.

At the root of the indifference is the desire of the party to dominate. It will not allow talent, outside its own auspices, to flourish, just as it would not allow, for over two decades, market forces to operate so that the economy could blossom and bloom. In every sphere, it has promoted and sponsored yes-men and yes-women of the party to important posts and positions — from vice-chancellorships to headmasterships of village schools. The outcome of this stranglehold has been the death of talent. Mr Panda has so far managed to survive, but the chances are that from MIT he will not, like innumerable other talented Bengalis, return. This is not because, as the party likes to believe, of the lure of Uncle Sam, but because West Bengal, as it is today, has nothing to offer, unless one bows and prays to the red god the party has made.