PRIME MINISTER’S SPEECH ON THE OCCASION
OF THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF BENGAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
& INDUSTRY
The Prime Minister,
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed the Bengal Chamber of Commerce
& Industry on the occasion of its 150th anniversary
at Kolkata today. The following is the text of the speech of the
Prime Minister on the occasion:
"It gives me
great pleasure to be with you this morning to celebrate a landmark
year in the life of an institution that has contributed so much
to the city of Kolkata, to the State of West Bengal, and to the
entire Eastern region. The very fact that the Bengal Chamber of
Commerce & Industry has completed 150 years is proof that
Bengal has truly been the pioneer of industrialisation in India.
It means that nearly a century before India became independent,
this city and this State had already taken to the high road of
industry and commerce.
India’s cultural,
intellectual and industrial resurgence began from Bengal. The
great reformers, philosophers and poets who were born here provided
leadership in thought and action to various socio-political movements.
Just as all the tributaries of the Ganga merge into it to make
it a mighty river, all these movements joined the mainstream of
the nationalist struggle, imparting considerable strength and
vitality to it. Bengal achieved a synthesis between the spiritual
nationalism of Swami Vivekananda, humanism of Gurudev Tagore,
scientific temper of Jagdish Chandra Bose, and political radicalism
of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
Thus, in the closing
decades of the 19th century and the early decades of
the 20th century, Bengal became the cultural, educational
and industrial capital of India. Such was its fame and reputation
those days that Bengal’s prowess gained a legendary aura around
it. "What Bengal thinks today, the rest of India will think
tomorrow," it used to be said.
I am recalling this
hoary past of Kolkata and Bengal for two purposes. First, I wish
to join all of you in paying my tributes to all the pioneers in
the saga of Bengal’s industrialization. Secondly, past achievements
serve as a useful benchmark to judge the present and as a source
of inspiration to plan for the future.
Bengal was the undisputed
leader and promoter of industrial culture in India till the late
1960s. Why did it lose its way thereafter? From a position of
number one in the early post-Independence period, it declined
to a position somewhere in middle by the close of the century.
As recently as 1981, West Bengal’s per capita income was above
the national average. Two decades later, it fell below the national
average. Why did this happen? Why did businesses leave Bengal?
Why did new investments skip Bengal?
These questions are
best answered by the people of Bengal themselves and their representatives.
Indeed, I have heard many Bengalis, who have gone out of Bengal,
ask these questions. Outsiders can only surmise that the arrival
of dogmatism saw the departure of development. Sometimes in the
affairs of organizations, provinces and even nations, extreme
positions rule the roost for some time, but the price of the folly
is paid for years and decades to come.
Of course, when men
make mistakes, life also provides opportunities for correction.
And when correction is applied with conviction and a collective
force, often swift progress is achieved. One can even make up
for the lost time and forge ahead.
Thus, it is clear
that there is a need for introspection by all sections of society
in West Bengal. I am not saying this to sermonize to others. But
I do wish to stress that life is forcing us to find new answers
to old questions. Today no country, no state and no city has the
luxury of wanting to remain sluggish and stagnant. Our people’s
expectations are rising fast. They know how other countries have
progressed. Our young people, in particular, need employment and
self-employment opportunities. I am told that this problem is
especially acute in West Bengal. Employment and self-employment
opportunities cannot be created without faster economic growth.
Therefore, India has a lot of catching up to do. And within India,
Bengal has a lot of catching up to do.
As you are well aware,
India has been making rapid strides in many areas of economic
growth in the past few years. In some cases, the progress is truly
unprecedented. Who could have imagined that India would earn nearly
Rs. 40,000 crore a year through software exports alone? Who could
have thought that the number of mobile phones in our country would
skyrocket from less than 10 lakh five years ago to 1.5 crore now?
In Kolkata itself, the number of cell phone users has gone up
by more than ten times in five years. In the first fifty years
after Independence, India constructed only 550 km of four-lane
highways – that is, about 11 km each year. Now we are constructing
15,000 km-long four-lane highways at the rate of five km each
day!
I have cited these
few facts just to illustrate an important truth. And that truth
is: India, too, is progressing rapidly. World leaders often wonder
at India’s steadily growing economic strength. It is true that
our progress so far is uneven – both geographically and socially.
Therefore, what I would like to say today is that West Bengal
should soon become the economic powerhouse of the East and join
the ranks of speedily advancing States of India.
I am happy that,
in recent years, winds of change are blowing in Bengal, although
quite mildly so far. The West Bengal Government has begun to constructively
respond to the new challenges. The new approach of partnership
with the private sector, which it has adopted recently, is leading
to a slow revival of business sentiments. There is some improvement
in certain aspects of infrastructure. This change needs expansion
and acceleration. I urge the State Government to create a strong
pro-business and pro-investment environment in West Bengal. For
this, the entire government machinery, right down to the last
clerk, should gear itself up with a new work culture and a new
pro-growth mindset.
The Centre will extend
full cooperation to the State Government in its endeavour to speed
up socio-economic development. I am sure that the Chief Minister
has no reason now to repeat the decades-old complaint that the
Centre is discriminating against the State. Our track record of
the past fives years shows that we do not follow the policy of
discrimination on political and ideological grounds. All States,
irrespective of who is ruling where, are equal in our eyes. The
development of each State, and especially those States that are
lagging behind, is dear to us. I believe that for India to be
strong and prosperous, all the States have to strong and prosperous.
And for the States to be prosperous and progressing rapidly, we
need harmonious and cooperative relations between the Centre and
the States. This is the principle we have followed for the past
five years. And this is how we will continue to act in the future,
too.
Hence, we welcome
any idea and any suggestion that is aimed at Bengal’s renaissance.
Bengal must rise not only for its own sake, but also for catalyzing
the revival of the rest of Eastern India and the entire North-Eastern
India. In the past few years, the Central Government has made
special efforts for the promotion of industries and businesses
in the North East. I urge the chambers of industry and commerce,
both national and regional, to play a more active role for the
success of these efforts.
Bengal has nearly
all it takes to achieve a speedy economic revival. There is a
large network of colleges and professional institutions. Many
of them are highly reputed. Bengali scientists, administrators,
managers, and other professionals who are working in other parts
of India and abroad have earned a big name for themselves. In
recent years, healthy saplings of New Economy enterprises in information
technology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals have been planted
in West Bengal. A small beginning has been made in petrochemicals,
with the success of the Haldia Petrochemicals. The State also
has a huge untapped scope for food processing industries.
The Central Government
has recently formulated a policy for development of industrial
infrastructure in identified industrial clusters. This scheme
is particularly helpful for the resurgence of industrial activity
in such centres where lack of infrastructure is becoming an inhibiting
factor. I hope the State Government takes full advantage of our
new initiative for revival of its traditional industries, including
improving their technological and competitive position.
One of the big strengths
of Bengal is its locational advantage. The port of Kolkata, and
the newer port of Haldia, can enable you to be the gateway for
India to reach many neighbouring countries in South-East Asia.
For the past few years, India has been actively following what
we have termed as the "Look East" policy to strengthen
our economic, trade, and cultural ties with the countries of South-East
Asia and East Asia. India has now become a regular summit partner
of ASEAN. My visits to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Malaysia
and Indonesia have convinced me that India, especially our Eastern
and North-Eastern States, can benefit a lot from our steadily
expanding ties with this vital region.
In this context,
I would like to mention that Bengal and neighbouring States can
also profit from the India-China agreement on economic cooperation
that we have signed in Beijing recently. The opening of trade
route to China through Nathula Pass further strengthens Bengal’s
locational advantage as it can re-emerge as the natural transshipment
point for the old Silk Route.
I shall conclude
my remarks by recalling Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s dream for
Bengal, which he expressed in just two evocative words: Sonar
Bangla. This was not a poet’s flight of fancy. This dream
for tomorrow’s Bengal can be realized if all of us – Centre and
the State Government, businesses, trade unions, and all sections
of the people -- work together with a common agenda, a common
goal and a common perception. I am confident that the Bengal Chamber
of Commerce & Industry, along with other chambers at the State
and national level, would make their fullest contribution to the
realization of this dream.
Thank you".
