Sub-Nationalism and West Bengal's struggle
Exploring the Dynamics of Sub-Nationalism and its Impact on West Bengal’s Economic Journey
The Lok Sabha results in India were recently announced. As expected, the Narendra Modi-led NDA formed the government. There were some surprises in the final results and how the verdicts panned out across different states. Without going into too much detail, there were two states where the BJP (and their alliance, the NDA) have historically performed poorly but were hoping to make significant strides this time around: Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
There have been enough hypotheses and analyses about why that has happened. There is no point in repeating that. Competent political analysts have presented their points of view on this. What I have found quite irritating about the whole analysis and narrative set by the media is how they have used the names of these two states as the face of resistance against the BJP.
Tamil Nadu is a model state. West Bengal is anything but a model state. So using them together as an example is quite irritating, at least to me, who is (or was?) a resident of West Bengal and grew up there.
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Let me elaborate on this. The left in India has a habit of projecting Kerala as the model state, whereas the dear state for the Right is Gujarat. Kerala is a leading state when it comes to health and education, whereas Gujarat leads the way for manufacturing and industries.
If you consider different health metrics, then yes, Kerala has a strong case to make. IMR (Infant Mortality Rate) is considered as one of the prominent indicators when it comes to the health-related infrastructure of a place [1]. And here, Kerala is as good as any US state.
Similarly, to gauge how much manufacturing is contributing to the state’s overall economy, we can take a look at the manufacturing to GSDP (%) for each state [2]. It is an important measure because ideally, to grow, we would need more manufacturing units. And a country can only grow when it can move a larger number of people from agriculture to manufacturing [3]. And yes, Gujarat is the top-ranked state there.
Now, do you know what both of these lists have in common? They both have Tamil Nadu in the top 3! Whereas West Bengal is either languishing around the lower end of the first half or the upper end of the second half. This is not a one-off case. In most areas, with the exception of agriculture, West Bengal has been a mid-table state. There’s a compelling economic argument to be made that perhaps the focus on agriculture is one of the primary reasons for this [4].
There are numerous reasons why West Bengal is languishing. The Communist government for 34 years (or more precisely 23 years) was more interested in consolidating its power than developing the state [5]. By the time they started taking action, it was too late, and the means didn’t justify the ends [6]. The succeeding government has been playing catch-up ever since. Then there’s the issue of immigration. Border instability across the Bangladesh - West Bengal border and volatility in Assam led to immigration that affected Bengal up until the early 90s [7, 8]. Moreover, certain policies implemented during the Nehruvian era, along with those of the central government, not only impeded the progress of West Bengal but also had a significant impact on the overall development of Eastern India. [9].
In the book “South vs North: India’s Great Divide”, another intriguing perspective is presented which I think applies to West Bengal. The author vividly illustrates the contrasting trajectories of Northern and Southern states across various dimensions. On a comparative scale, Southern states appear to significantly outperform their Northern counterparts in key areas such as health, education, and industry. The author suggested that one of the contributing factors to the superior performance of the Southern states is the prevalent sense of “sub-nationalism”.
Sub-nationalism, mind you, is not about vilifying people from other regions who migrate to your state. It’s about demanding better conditions for your own community from the authorities, i.e., the government. It’s a virtuous cycle. If your community demands better jobs and they are created, there will soon come a time when the local population alone won’t be able to meet the market demand. People from other states will start migrating in, and in turn, the entire state’s economy will prosper.
When I consider West Bengal, this sub-nationalist sentiment was never present. Bengalis were predominantly divided between either Hindu vs Muslim, or Bangal (people from Bangladesh) vs Ghotis (long-time residents of West Bengal). During the tumultuous times of partition, most people found satisfaction in achieving stability for themselves and their communities. And later, seeking better opportunities by leaving the state became a common practice.
Without the push from sub-nationalism, it’s hard to see how Bengal can move up economically. Sub-nationalism stirs up a shared wish for improvement, which can help the economy grow. It brings people together and motivates them to work for their community’s success. Without this push, the road to economic progress becomes unclear and harder to follow.
What are your thoughts on the role of sub-nationalism in the economic development of a state? Do you believe that a stronger sense of community and demand for better conditions can spur economic growth?
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[1] Infant Mortality Rate as a Measure of a Country’s Health: A Robust Method to Improve Reliability and Comparability - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6681443/
[2] Manufacturing Sector in India - https://www.ibef.org/industry/manufacturing-sector-india
[3] Moving Indians out of agriculture - https://www.nitinpai.in/2021/06/19/moving-indians-out-of-agriculture
[4] West Bengal economy’s fall has been stunning. Too obsessed with agriculture - https://theprint.in/opinion/west-bengal-economys-fall-has-been-stunning-too-obsessed-with-agriculture/1599190/
[5] Who ruined Bengal’s industrial legacy? - https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/who-ruined-bengals-industrial-legacy/article64334066.ece
[6] Tata Nano vs West Bengal - https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/tata-motors-wins-singur-land-case-against-wb-govt-here-are-case-details-123110300489_1.html
[7] The Refugees and the Migrants of West Bengal - https://academic.oup.com/book/10133/chapter-abstract/157640565?redirectedFrom=fulltext
[8] Goreswar massacre - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goreswar_massacre
[9] Freight equalisation policy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freight_equalisation_policy