New role,same approach

She presented her “report card” on Thursday at the Brigade Parade Grounds,where millions had turned out braving a continuous downpour to watch the cocktail of a celebration and a condolence. It may be early for a conclusive assessment,but a pattern does emerge,one that mirrors her days as an Opposition leader — too much packaged in terms of new announcements,grandiose projects or gratuitous relief,all with huge financial implications.

What has actually taken off the ground might not be as encouraging. Inside Writers’ Buildings,a question frequently being asked is “Is Didi in a hurry?” She has justified the “hurry” herself,saying in public: “My heart is powered by a desire to fill the vacuum left by an inactive and corrupt government over the last 34 years. One has to move fast to repair the damage.”

A sampling of how fast the government has moved,and to what effect:

Darjeeling

The agreement,“clinched” a couple of days ago,has been the subject of questions about sustainability. There is growing evidence of a tacit understanding between Bimal Gurung and Mamata in the manner the two have been trying to convince people in the hills and the plains. Gurung has urged the people of the hills not to read too much in Mamata’s pledge “not to divide Bengal”; it was “a statement of political compulsion.” Back in office,Mamata’s response to a renewed call by Gurung for a statehood movement has been: “Don’t worry,I will take care of things.”

If sentiments on the ground are any indication,the Dooars and the Terai are simmering beneath an apparent calm; the people in the hills are not as confident as their leaders either. The only welcome development is the possibility of the hills becoming free of bandhs and closures.

Mamata has showered the region with promises: a Kolkata-Cooch Behar air service for which the state will have to give a subsidy of about Rs 80,000 a day to the airline,distribution of land pattas,a table tennis academy in Siliguri,a mini CM secretariat for North Bengal,cluster industry,house grants to BPL families. The result has been transitory peace in the hills,growing dissent in the plains.

Junglemahal

During a visit there on n July 12,she made an appeal,without naming the Maoists for once,to lay down arms and join the mainstream.

On offer were jobs to 10,000 tribal young men and women as part of a special police force,rice to all at

Rs 2 a kg twice a week,36 health centres,33 student hostels,BPL status for all people in Junglemahal till a revised list is created,bicycles to all girls in XI and XII,polytechnic institutes,nurse training centres,a huge jump in old-age agricultural pension from Rs 8,000 to 75,000 per year,Rs 4,000 per month to poor farmers,1,800 teachers in Alchiki for 900 tribal schools,an upgrade for 235 schools from Madhyamik to Higher Secondary,a Santhali academy,a bridge over Subrnarekha,Rs 50,000 to the victims of police torture in Lalgarh,a sports academy,and a stadium of international standards.

Bloodletting has stopped but little progress has been made in the peace initiative. The Maoists have been pressing for withdrawal of forces and the release of all political prisoners,and are upset with the proposal to arm youths with jobs. The result is a stalemate.

Finance department officials say it is hard to evaluate the total implication of these announcements. The projects may be spread over years but,as of now,nothing has reached the officers’ table as concrete proposals with financial sanction.

Singur

The Chief Minister did show a political commitment on Singur,but for the unwilling farmer the outcome of her haste has been a stalemate that hangs heavy on their future. Now,many of them are asking if an out-of-court settlement would have been an option. With things dragged to court,the prospect of farmers getting quick relief is under a cloud.

Also,the return of land in Singur has raised similar demands elsewhere including Rajarhat where,again,the CM had to make a hurried announcement on cancelling land acquisition notices served across 1,500 acres. The result is utter confusion in Rajarhat and elsewhere,restive farmers in Singur.

Political prisoners

She has disclosed the names in the first batch of 52 undertrial prisoners to be released; it has but one Naxalite. Most of the rest are KLO and Kamtapur activists who had been arrested over the separatist movements in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri and who faced serious crime charges. Mamata assures more will be released later,but rights groups are mounting pressure on her government to fulfil her pre-poll promise of an “unconditional release” of all political prisoners including those in Junglemahal.

Funds

Amid such promises,potentially discouraging signals have come from Delhi about shoring up finances with greater revenue collection if the state has to tide over a mess left behind by the earlier government. A jump in the annual allocation,from Rs 17,985 crore to Rs 22,214 crore,is “more or less normal”,say optimistic finance officials,adding Mamata has also been assured greater support from the Planning Commission for the 12th Plan period (2012-17) though nothing has been committed yet. But there is also a Central warning: implement the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management practice immediately to help reduce a debt burden of nearly Rs 192,000 crore.