Gujarat vs Bengal

Gujarat vs Bengal
BJP vc CPM
Singur-Tata drama.

There are various lessons
to be drawn from the Singur-Tata drama.
The one
I wish to comment on here
is the dramatic swiftness with which
Gujarat
bagged the Nano project,
within five-odd days of the exit from
Bengal.

Observe the contrast.
Bengal takes two-odd years
and despite the concentrated attention,
day-by-day,
week-by-week,
of the entire top political and state leadership,
still makes a mess,
which leaves everyone a loser.

And Gujarat,
seemingly within a week,
handing over all the 1,000-odd acres sought by Tata,
free of encumbrances and tension,
plus
matching all the other concessions
offered by rival state bidders.
And
not in some rural wilderness
but
within a half-hour drive of the political
and commercial centres.
We aren't commenting on the merits of
rival bids or even joining
the chorus of clucks of sympathy for
Tata
and
deprecations of
Mamata Bannerjee's stubborn stand.



There is a huge irony in
India's top businessmen
and chambers of commerce insisting that
the refusal of peasants in Singur to sell their only property
asset at state-determined terms must be steamrolled
by fiat for the greater good.
And
that a political leader
who stands up for the poor man's right to say
'No'
and an insistence on a better deal
for the loss of home and livelihood is a hindrance
to both sense and progress.

What concerns us here is
how Gujarat was able to do in a week or two
what Bengal was unable,
despite top-level enthusiasm and hard work,
to do in two years.
Part of the answer
has to be the quality of governance,
at least in these matters.

Administration in Gujarat
is marked by the same ills as elsewhere
— red tape,
corruption,
unaccountability,
slovenliness, etc.

Yet,
they have shown they can move very fast
when they wish to and with pragmatism
that other states could draw some lessons from.



The chief minister
appears to have told his top bureaucrats,
the same day Tata gave the first public indication that
the Singur standoff had to end fast,
to identify alternatives in Gujarat
with the same area and free of such hassles.
It was done,
as was the other homework on
finance,
clearances,
land titles,
infrastructure,
access, etc.,
within days;
the Tata scout team was sold,
and the deal signed the day after
Ratan Tata flew into Ahmedabad.



This ability to deliver fast,
to customer satisfaction and sans internal turmoil,
deserves study — and emulation.

Hearty Congratulations

to

Shri Narendra Modi

Chief Minister, Gujarat

Sriram Savarkar ©
Hinduism is more a way of life than a method of worship.
Dharmo Rakshati Rakshithaha
If you protect Dharma, Dharma will in turn protect you.
Hindus, If people slap you once, slap them twice!