SILIGURI, March. 3: The CPI-M kicked off its poll campaign for the crucial Darjeeling Parliamentary constituency in Siliguri today even as other potential contenders are grappling with the process of candidate selection and poll alliance.

With the CPI-M state committee approving the name of Mr. Jibesh Sarkar for the constituency, the party plunged in garnering public support today. The party's frontal organisations like the DYFI, SFI and the All India Democratic Women's Forum staged a rally in Siliguri today, which, commencing from the district party office traversed several thoroughfares.  Mr. Sarkar accompanied by the zonal committee secretary Mr. Mukul Sengupta led the rally.

Spelling out the principal poll planks for the sensitive constituency Mr. Sarkar said that his party would stress most on three issues - indispensability of industrialisation for all-round development, the danger inherent in state division demand and the paramount need of preserving the ethnic harmony between the hills and the plains.

“We would leave no stone unturned to convince the people that the industrialisation momentum launched by the state government in the face of grim adversities can alone meet successfully the mounting development aspirations of the teeming millions. The people must foil the sinister attempt by some Opposition parties to derail the ongoing development agenda,” he said

Dwelling upon the problem typical to Darjeeling district the CPI-M leader said that his party would launch a concerted campaign against the Gorkhaland demand. “The party has been espousing the ethnic aspirations of the Nepali-speaking community since inception. We demanded Constitutional recognition for the Nepali language and a measure of autonomy for the hills for the first time in the Parliament. Truncation of the state to carve out an economically unviable Gorkhaland would spell doom for all,” he warned.

He further advocated the need to preserve the ethno-cultural harmony of the region. “We would never allow any divisive design to punch holes into the ethnic fabric in the plains and the hills,” he said.

Although the CPI-M set its well-oiled machinery in motion, the Opposition including the GJMM and the Congress are still undecided over candidate or poll alliance. The GJMM seems swinging between putting up candidates and supporting either the Congress or the BJP and the Congress, apparently to re-nominate Mr. Dawa Narbula, is yet to put an official seal on the matter. A possible alliance with the GJMM has been hanging in balance. The same is true in case of the BJP, though it announced its candidate about a fortnight ago.

That something is rotten in West Bengal has been brought into focus by the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG’s) report for 2006-07, which was recently laid before the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. It has the same refrain as the reports for several earlier years.

More than three decades of unbroken Left Front rule has only brought about increasing sloth and callousness. With a sharp deterioration in work ethic and accountability, governance has increasingly suffered. This has clearly affected the finances of the cash-strapped state and also adversely affected performance, as pointed out by the CAG. The CAG observes that in the absence of a fiscal responsibility and management Act, the state government could not avail of relief totaling Rs 820 crore in interest payments, debt relief through re-scheduling of repayments for the five years till 2010 and write-off against revenue deficit in 2005-06. There was increased reliance on borrowed funds to meet current expenditure. As interest payments shot up by Rs 1,210 crore, the overall fiscal deficit mounted from Rs 77,543 crore in 2002-03 to Rs 122,398 crore in 2006-07. The total outstanding guaranteed loans increased (17 per cent) to Rs 13,136.64 crore in four years to 2006-07. The asset backing of the state’s liabilities was at a low of 32 per cent. The CAG comments that there was excess expenditure of Rs 50,333.70 crore over the sanctioned appropriations for six years to 2005-06, which has not been regularised as required by Article 205 of the Constitution and was a breach of legislative control. Perhaps the legislature is not aware of this. Expenditure of Rs 25,504 crore in 2005-06 remains unreconciled with the accountant-general’s books.

Grants and loans to local bodies decreased by Rs 401 crore, affecting the flow of funds for development activities. It is a matter for concern that as many as 42,147 out of 42,167 utilisation certificates for a total amount of Rs 8,931 crore of grants has not been submitted. Scant regard for adherence to rules for financial control is seen from the fact that Rs 396 crore held in personal ledger accounts (PLAs) were not closed at the end of the year, contrary to the West Bengal Treasury Rules. Seventeen PLAs were opened during the year without the accountant-general’s authorization.

There was a cash shortage of Rs. 2.39 crore in the accounts of a number of drawing and disbursing officers in seven districts. Rs 66 crore remained unadjusted against advances by way of abstract contingent bills.

Several regional development authorities suffered from inefficient management. The Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (ADDA) even after 27 years of notification had not been able to prepare plans for 362,377 acres.

The North Bengal Development Council, constituted in 2000, which was to undertake development in six districts suffered from deficient fund management and failure to prepare a perspective plan. Out of Rs 167 crore available with the council, Rs 73 crore (44 per cent) remained unutilised. Out of 1,540 works, undertaken since 2000, 537 remained incomplete. Out of 18 projects under the ministry of commerce and industries’ scheme of assistance for developing export infrastructure taken up over five years ending 2007, only five projects were completed up to the end of 2006.

The co-operative department released undue subsidy of Rs 50.68 crore through the State Cooperative Marketing Federation for extra benefits paid out to rice millers and transporters. The government has not replied to this audit report.

The food and civil supplies department gave undue benefits of Rs 42 crore to procurement agencies for milling paddy and supplying rice to the targeted public distribution system.

The disaster management department had incurred an extra cost of Rs. 3.43 crore in procuring 2 lakh pieces of fabricated tarpaulins from Haldia Petrochemicals at a higher price than the lowest bid against the tender notice. To add to the department’s follies, it suffered a loss of Rs 55 lakhs when suppliers supplied only woolen blankets against an order for cotton and woolen blankets. There was no penal clause in the purchase orders.

Laxity of several district authorities by way of excessive allowances made for mid-day meals for schools cost the state Rs 7.83 crore. There were as many as 675 pending cases of misappropriation and defalcation of government monies. The apathy or the inability of the state government towards responding to audit objections is further borne out by the fact that there were 2,938 paragraphs in 1,107 inspection reports that could not be settled; 507 paragraphs were outstanding for more than 10 years and action taken notes were outstanding for 226 paragraphs.

Of 86 public sector undertakings (PSUs), 12 were not working and 36 were in arrears of finalising their accounts, ranging from one to six years (for non-working PSUs up to 23 years). While 26 PSUs earned profits of Rs 757 crore, 38 incurred losses of Rs. 691 crore in the year and 29 had accumulated losses of Rs 2,165 crore against paid-up capital of Rs 243 crore. Two statutory corporations had accumulated losses of Rs 6,892 crore against paid-up capital of Rs 1,470 crore. In view of poor turnover and negative net worth, the CAG has again recommended that the government may either improve the performance of 49 PSUs or consider their closure.

While the West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation, after eight years of operation, could not acquire and develop 3,075 hectares of land, it paid out Rs 40.10 crore to contractors for inadmissible items and unjustified enhancement of specifications for internal roads and dubious work, involving extra expenditure of Rs 12.16 crore.

The West Bengal Rural Energy Development Corporation and the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) had energised 3,448 mouzas, with delays of four to seven years, but failed to meet the target of energising all villages by March 2007 and 90,402 targeted consumers couldn’t be given connections. Only 24 per cent of 1.46 lakhs of rural households were electrified. The WBSEB incurred losses of Rs 15 crore.

The CAG ruefully comments on the lack of response of the state government to audit reports for PSUs and points out that till end-June 2007, 267 paragraphs relating to 135 inspection reports were outstanding and 52 reports had not even been replied to.

(The writer is a freelance contributor to the Statesman)

And to cap it all, what better LOGIC TO USE THAN THE "TAX FREE" AND THE "SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE" THAT WILL NATURALLY ENSUE WHEN THE FUTURE GORKHALAND IS FORMED AND THE BENEFITS THEY WILL ALL NATURALLY REAP WHEN THIS HAPPENS.


(Posted by Gorkhs Daju, March 4, 2009, 1:49 PM)

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