[Reader-list] What the Communists have done to West Bengal in 30 years !

Sat Apr 25 14:28:42 IST 2009

"An interesting report card about the left front government. I wonder
do we need these people to take India in next century or move it to
where the USSR splitted and Communism failed ?"

This report card has been prepeared by Congress I , the ruling party
in India with whom the Communists had an alliance till few months
back.

30 YEARS OF LEFT FRONT RULE IN WEST BENGAL:
A DEVELOPMENT REPORT CARD
APRIL 5, 2009

Table of Contents

1.      Health and Nutrition    3
       Even after 30 years of Left rule, West Bengal has very high levels of
hunger and malnutrition when compared to the rest of India.
2.      Education       5
       Even after 30 years of Left rule, West Bengal is failing to keep
children in school and to ensure learning among them.
3.      Employment Generation   7
       Even after 30 years of Left rule, negligible new employment is being
created in West Bengal, even as other states are forging ahead.
4.      Poverty 8
       Even after 30 years of Left rule, most of West Bengal's districts are
among the poorest in India. It also has the ominous distinction of
having India's poorest  district.
5.      Income Growth   9
       Even after 30 years of Left rule, West Bengal has very high levels of
hunger and malnutrition when compared to the rest of India.
6.      Law and Order   10
       After 30 years of Left rule, the ranking of West Bengal among Indian
states in terms of per capita income has slid dramatically.
7.      Basic Services and Infrastructure       11
       Even after 30 years of Left rule, West Bengal has under-invested in
protecting its citizens. The incidence of heinous crimes in West
Bengal is disproportionately high when compared to other states of
India.
8.      Welfare of  Backward Classes    12
       Even after 30 years of Left rule, the Left government has failed to
provide access to essential services and basic infrastructure to the
people of West Bengal.

1.      Health & Nutrition

Even after 30 years of Left rule, West Bengal has very high levels of
hunger and malnutrition when compared to the rest of India.

·       Hunger
West Bengal has the highest rate of hunger in rural households among
major Indian states.
o       This is validated in a recent Study led by Jean Dreze and Angus
Deaton (see below).

·       Malnutrition of Women
o       Married women in West Bengal, on average, have a lower body-mass
index than the average Indian woman, suggesting greater
undernourishment. Married women in West Bengal also have a greater
likelihood of suffering from anemia than the average Indian woman.
o       This data is from the West Bengal government’s own Human Development
Report.

·       Not spending Central Government Funds on Healthcare
West Bengal government has failed to fully and effectively spend the
money released to it by the Central government, year after year.

·       Failure to spend on urban health services:
Comptroller & Auditor General of India, Audit Report (Civil), West
Bengal for the Year 2006-2007 notes that:
 “During 2002-2007, the (West Bengal government’s) department could
not spend the budgeted funds of Rs 357.13 crore for urban health
services. Further, unutilised funds of Rs 1.50 crore remained parked
in the personal ledger accounts of the Superintendents of two
hospitals for over seven years.”
2.      Education

Even after 30 years of Left rule, West Bengal is failing to keep
children in school and to ensure learning among them.

·       Drop-out Rates
West Bengal has the second highest school dropout rate among major
states of India.

·       Learning of Children

The level of learning of children in rural West Bengal schools is, on
average, lower than most other states of India.

·       Poor Implementation of Mid-Day Meal Scheme
The Comptroller & Auditor General of India, Performance Audit Report
of the National Programme for Nutritional Support to Primary Education
(Midday Meal Scheme), 2008 notes that:
o       “In test checked schools, cooked meals were not served for 37 per
cent of the targeted 78,114 school-days due to delayed implementation
of the programme, short receipt of rice, cooking cost, etc.”
o       Rs. 4.82 crore was claimed in excess of the actual spend for food
grain transportation.
o       Pucca kitchen sheds were not available in 71 per cent of the
schools.
o       Drinking water was not available in 29 per cent of the schools. Gas
stoves were not available in 99 percent of the schools.

3.      Employment Generation

After 30 years of Left rule, negligible new employment is being
created in West Bengal, even as other states are forging ahead.

·       Employment growth
o       Employment growth outside agriculture in West Bengal is way behind
that of other comparable states and also behind the national average.
o       Employment growth has practically come to a halt in urban areas.

·       National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Implementation
o       While it complains about lack of support from the central
government, the West Bengal government is failing to utilize funds
allocated to it by the Centre to implement the scheme.
§       According to the CAG of India Performance Audit in 2008, the West
Bengal government spent only 66.6% of the funds made available for the
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in 2006-07.
o       There is over-reporting of the implementation of the scheme, the
actual implementation is much lower. According to a CAG of India
Performance Audit in 2008:
§       Excess reporting of 6.06 lakh man days of cumulative employment
generation was noticed just in Purulia district alone.
§       Excess reporting of funds utilization of Rs. 0.99 crore was noticed
in both Medinipur and Purulia districts.
4.      Poverty

Even after 30 years of Left rule, most of West Bengal’s districts are
among the poorest in India. It also has the ominous distinction of
having India’s poorest district.
·        14 out of West Bengal’s 18 districts (i.e. 78% of the districts)
are among the 100 poorest districts in India.
·       The poorest district in India is Murshidabad in West Bengal, where
56% of the people live in abject poverty. An astonishing 1.47% of
India’s rural poor live in this one district alone.
Source: 2009 Study by Indian Statistical Institute for the Ministry of
Statistics and Programme Implementation; based on analysis of NSS Data

5.      Income Growth

After 30 years of Left rule, the ranking of West Bengal among Indian
states in terms of per capita income has slid dramatically.
·       West Bengal has gone from having the second position in per capita
income among Indian states in 1960/61 to the ninth position in
2004/05.
Ranking of Indian States by Per Capita Income
       1960/61 1980/81 2004/05
Maharashtra     1       2       2
West Bengal     2       5       9
Punjab  3       1       3
Gujarat 4       4       4
Tamil Nadu      5       8       6
Haryana 6       3       1
Assam   7       12      10
Karnataka       8       6       7
Rajasthan       9       14      11
Andhra Pradesh  10      9       8
Kerala  11      7       5
Madhya Pradesh  12      10      13
Orissa  13      11      12
Uttar Pradesh   14      13      14
Bihar   15      15      15

Source:  Central Statistical Organization (CSO)
6.      Law & OrderEven after 30 years of Left rule, West Bengal has
under-invested in protecting its citizens. The incidence of heinous
crimes in West Bengal is disproportionately high when compared to
other states of India.· Police ForceWest Bengal has under-invested in
protecting its citizens – it has fewer policemen per capita than the
all-India average. ·    Incidence of heinous crimesThe incidence of
heinous crimes is much higher than the incidence in other comparable
states and the all-India average. 7.    Basic Services and
InfrastructureEven after 30 years of Left rule, the Left government
has failed to provide access to essential services and basic
infrastructure to the people of West Bengal.·   Availability of Drinking
Water Only a quarter of households in West Bengal have access to safe
drinking water, which is far less than other comparable states. ·       Road
connectivityLess than half the habitations in West Bengal are
connected by pucca roads, which is far less than other comparable
states.

8.      Welfare of Backward Classes

Even after 30 years of Left rule, the Left government has failed to
look after the interests of the weaker sections of West Bengal,
especially SC/ST groups.
Observations made in the Comptroller & Auditor General of India
Report, “Audit Report (Civil) for the year ended 31 March 2007”
·       During 2001-2006, against a budget of Rs 1.43 crores for pre-matric
scholarships, only Rs 0.43 crore (30 per cent) were granted and paid
to SC/ST students.
·       In seven test-checked districts, 25,000 SC and 4000 ST students were
deprived of post-matric scholarships due to non-release of required
funds. Further, over 74,000 students faced a delay of between 12 – 22
months in receiving their scholarships in the seven districts
surveyed.
·       Against the state’s budgeted provision of Rs 92.37 crores for
payment of book grants, the concerned state government department
released only Rs 77.80 crores, thus depriving 14.15 lakh students of
the benefits of the scheme.
·       As of March 2006, construction of two central hostels for SC/ST
students was not started due to land dispute and construction of seven
more hostels remained incomplete due to delayed selection of sites and
delayed release of funds. Further, eight additional hostels remained
vacant for want of matrons, superintendents and other staff and
required basic infrastructure facilities. Shockingly, two of the
hostels were being used as Government offices and residences.
·        In the absence of adequate inspection, hostel grants were paid to
the school authorities on the basis of sanctioned strength of
boarders, instead of actual number of students accommodated therein.
As a result, several instances of excess payment of hostel grants
aggregating Rs 39.35 lakh were noticed in the audit.