From Prosperity to Decline: Post Colonial Indian State of Bengal

Abstract

The socio-economic contribution of the Indian state of West Bengal, which has been subjected to repeated partitions and transfer of population during the last one hundred and fifty odd years to serve the interest of the colonial and national rulers, is immense. Bengal was one of the wealthiest regions, of the Asian subcontinent, prior to the invasion of the British East India Company in 1757. Even after partition, in 1947, till the early 1950s, West Bengal’s industrial contribution was highest among all the states of India. Then the decline started. Few possible causes of the decline, both non-economic and economic, could be: (i) absence of local ‘business communities’ in Bengal; (ii) marginalization of Bengali Bhadralok; (iii) Bengal centric parochial politics; (iv) the Union government’s discriminatory policies against Bengal. Post colonial India has followed the same model of economic growth with a centralized production system in few power centres of North, West and Southern India at the expense of other zones, namely, N-East, East and Central zones. During 1972-2018 a huge amount of Bengal’s savings, to the tune of INR 76.26 trillion (at the present value), was not utilized within the State (siphoned to other states) by the formal banking sector. The much hyped Cooperative Federalism of India is in total disarray. The Union Government is not keen to share power with the States in the periphery unless strong political demand for more autonomy is raised by the States. In this context the old debate on identity politics and sub national identity, in a multicultural and multi-linguistic nation like India, are being revived again. After the fall of Pala dynasty in the twelfth century, this part of Bengal was mostly ruled, till 2011, either by the outsiders or by their representatives. Since 2011 West Bengal has been governed by a political party which has its roots in the State. During the last few years the state has become wealthier and is progressing at a faster pace than the rest of the nation. Once again Bengal has become an attractive place for the outsiders who are eyeing for its wealth and want to recapture the political space again.