West Bengal, an eastern Indian state, has been the battlefield of forces in ideological oppositeness, particularly capitalism and communism, for nearly a few hundred years. The state's landscape shows what legacy this struggle between these two forces has left behind in how economic planning based on such ideological divisions has created fissures within the state's urban landscape and failed to further shape its development. This essay further tries to dive into, through quantitative analysis of authentic data and a historical overview, the failures of these economic policies in forming the socio-economic development of West Bengal together with its urban lifestyle and infrastructure.

Historical context: communism in West Bengal and its economic vision

The long association of West Bengal with communist governance is significantly affecting the economic development and modern urban lifestyles of this region. It was 34 years of Left Front governments led by CPI(M) from 1977 till 2011 when she substituted the Communist Party of India (Marxist). This is probably one of the most extended communist rule periods in India. This period saw the commitment of the state towards economic planning under the Marxist principles that relied on state intervention, land reforms, and a focus on the welfare of the rural poor.

The most significant area of activity of the Left Front was the implementation of land reforms and "reorganizing land from large owners into the hands of the landless." Having become successful in the agrarian economy through improvement and diminishment of feudal control, this policy did not remain profitable in spreading industrial growth, which is the greatest driver of urbanization. During this period, the contribution of the industrial sector to the state's GDP stayed at about 21%, which was reported by the Government of West Bengal in 2010, and well below the national average of 27%. This resulted in a low level of employment generation in the urban sector, and rising levels of urban poverty were thus stagnating the base of the urban infrastructure.

Capitalist shift: economic liberalization and its fallout

It was in the year 1991 that India began on the path of economic liberalization and approached from the state-centric model to a more market-driven, capitalist framework. It made way for neoliberal policies in India, which also changed the governance and economic policies in the state of West Bengal. After the fall of the Left Front in 2011, this was also joined by the appearance of the TMC, one of whose important characteristics was capitalism, industrialization, private investments, and developments in infrastructure in the state; however, that transition was bedeviled by contradictions and setbacks.

Even after a transition towards the market economy, the urban economy of West Bengal was facing the effects of stagnant industrialization under the Left Front. Severe infrastructural bottlenecks were afflicting cities within the state, especially Kolkata. Kolkata, the state capital and erstwhile commercial capital of British India, had a sharp decline in industrial activities, with an unemployment rate as high as 9.6% in 2011, much higher than the national average of 4.3% 1 .

Quantitative analysis: urban growth and infrastructure challenges

To understand the extent to which the ideological divide between capitalism and communism has affected urban development in West Bengal, a quantitative analysis of key urban indicators is necessary.

  • Population growth and density: West Bengal's population has grown significantly over the past few decades, exacerbating the urbanization process. From 2001 to 2011, the population of West Bengal grew by 14.8%, from 80.2 million to 91.2 million 2. But this growth of the urban areas does not go along with proper planning of the city. Kolkata is the city that houses more than 30 percent of the state's population. As per the Census of India in 2011, the population of the city was 4.5 million, up from 4.1 million in 2001. Kolkata has seen a rise in population coupled with an average population density of 24,000 people per square kilometer—one of the highest in the country.

    This rapid population growth has severely heaped pressure on housing, transportation, water, and sanitation infrastructures. The urban poor have encountered unconscionable difficulties in accessing affordable housing. The slum population in Kolkata was estimated at 3.5 million in 2011, accounting for 60% of the total population of the city 3. All these have compounded with no growth of industries in the communist era and less capital investments in housing in the capitalist era.

  • Infrastructure development: the infrastructure development of West Bengal lags behind the growth rate of the urban area. While much was achieved in the rural economy and the land regime was reformed by the Left Front regime, it failed in major aspects related to urban development and infrastructure. There is a massive backlog in transport and sanitation departments. The capital city, Kolkata, continues to grapple with traffic jams, inefficient garbage collection, and a lack of proper public transport. In 2015, Kolkata's metro network had 25 kilometers, whereas Delhi has 300 kilometers 4.

    In the post-2011 scenario, the capitalist approach did yield some infrastructural upgrades, which, however, were more ad hoc and piecemeal, focusing on particular projects. The much-hyped "Kolkata East-West Metro Corridor," which began in 2010, has seen multiple delays, and till 2021, only 12 kilometers of the corridor had been completed 5. Further, private investments, although encouraged, have been sparse, and issues with state bureaucracy and land acquisition have kept the pace of urban development in check.

  • Employment and economic growth: generally, the economic divide has largely caused improper urban employment opportunities in West Bengal. The urban area unemployment rate in West Bengal, between 2011 and 2011, was reported at about 9.6%. This is highly out of proportion to the national unemployment rate of 4.3%, as reported by the Indian Labour Bureau in 2011. The communist economic model and also the capitalist economic model failed to create any significant job creation in the urban areas. In the communist era, the industrial sector was not developed enough to provide jobs for the population. The market-orientated economy of the post-2011 period also did not witness the industrial boom that was anticipated.

    State GDP growth has also been poor. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation 6 (2021), the average GDP growth rate of West Bengal between 2011 and 2018 was a meager 6.1%, which is quite a long way behind the national average of 7.2%. Low growth has direct consequences for the standards of urban living as well, which are manifest in rising income inequality, unemployment, and social disturbances.

Capitalism vs. communism: urban outcomes

The ideological difference between capitalism and communism has led to piecemeal urban planning and development policies in West Bengal 7. Though the communist government focused on land reforms and the welfare of the rural people, industrialization and urbanization were not taken care of suitably, and cities in the state did not develop properly. Once the turn toward capitalism took place, the stampede was to modernize the infrastructure and try to attract private investment. However, that was insufficient to dig out the seeds of the deep-rooted problems of urban poverty, unemployment, and housing.

So are some of the major issues emanating from such an ideological schism between left and center-left governing strategies:

  • Poor governance: the lack of an integrated governance system has infused poor policymaking. The large bets of the Left Front have made it neglect the urban sentiments, while post-2011 capitalism delivered nothing but industrial development and infrastructure boondoggles.

  • Inequality and urban poverty: even when economic growth increased after liberalization, inequality was on the increase in cities. Slum areas are alive and kicking, and a significant part of the urban population suffers from the basic services of housing, health care, and sanitation.

  • Unemployment and skill gaps: the ideological shift did not generate the expected outputs for employment. Instead, some sort of industrial stagnation along with poor programs of vocational training for urbanites resulted in levels of unemployment for the city-based masses that opened up a big and explosive space of social tension 8.

Conclusion

The division between capitalism and communism only deepened in West Bengal and shaped its urban development. Although they had their economic policies, both did not eradicate the problems facing the city fully. The lack of a proper industrial base, weak urban planning, and an incoherent structure of governance have all left the cities in this state in a shambles. In addition, the tussle between the two philosophies created inconsistencies in policy formulation, which is not helpful for long-term development in the urban setup.

West Bengal needs to break this cycle with a hybrid model in which elements of capitalism and communism exist, such as industrialization coupled with the welfare and inclusion of society. One of the most important critical moments is towards modern urban planning. It is time now for a sharp turn toward inclusive and sustainable growth as well as the concentration of jobs with deeper social and economic inequalities being addressed in the state's urban centers. Only such a balanced approach can hope to overcome the failures of past economic planning and create a more sustainable and prosperous urban future for West Bengal.

References

1 Indian Labour Bureau. (2011). Annual Report on Labour and Employment Statistics. Government of India.
2 Census of India. (2011). Provisional population totals: Paper 1 of 2011: India series 1. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
3 United Nations Habitat. (2013). The state of the world's cities 2012/2013: Prosperity of cities. United Nations Human Settlements Programme.
4 Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation. (2015). Annual report 2014-2015. Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation.
5 Ministry of Railways, Government of India. (2021). Metro projects in India: Progress and developments.
6 Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. (2021). State domestic product estimates. Government of India.
7 Bagchi, A. (2012). West Bengal: A state in crisis—Economic policies, politics, and urban growth. Economic and Political Weekly, 47(32), 34-41.
8 Dutt, R. (2018). The myth of industrialization in West Bengal: State intervention and private capital. South Asian Economic Journal, 19(2), 125-142.