It Must be Economics over Politics in Bengal

Politics rules and politicians call shots. It is true for every country, every region. But then there are times when trends need to be reversed. In Bengal, the time has come.

The writing on the wall is change. "Reform, perform or perish" - the self proclaimed market marxist chief minister of the state is fond of saying. But his words have hardly been heeded to, the party and its cadres did not reform themselves, the babus and even his ministerial colleagues did not perform and hence perish, they will. However, the question would still remain, will the coming forces of power "reform, perform or perish"?

A lot has been lost, there is hardly anything more to loose. And, this hopelessness gives a ray of hope to the state. There is no other way to go but forward, provided the wheels of change do not get stuck in the same quicksand.

For decades a squinted view of society and an utter hatred toward anything economically prosperous has reigned in Bengal. Power to proletariat, voice to working class, prescriptions for classless society - all euphoric ideals were dead for a long time, their carcasses were being carried on sagging shoulders. When ideas do not sustain ideals and destination is lost in a maze of conflicting paths what prevails is chaos. So it did. But to be fair, those out of power were as much to blame as those ruling the roost. Anyway this is no time for blame game, its all too obvious. It is time to act and act fast.

Politics, that too of an endangered (also dangerous) variety had ruled over economics in the erstwhile capital of British Indian Empire for long thirty years. Its known that good economics is often considered bad politics, but in Bengal it was both bad politics and bad economics. Red ruled till economy saw red. The green harvest burnt to red chaff and eyes filled with hope shed tears of stiffled aspirations till they turned red. And, those who should have taken up cuddles against the red tyranny scurried off to cocoons of political ignominy.

If those who ruled had no vision, those opposing them too were not seeing too clearly. But today this short sightedness will not do. A whole generation has been brought up on nightmares, its time to dream and make dreams real.

What Bengal did all this while was to believe in a doctrine and to exhibit a different ideal altogether. While the inherent character of the government and the ruling coalition is always opposed to anything that has a market orientation, Buddhadeb flew in on a chariot of "market socialism"- a doctrine neither understood nor accepted by his colleagues. This can be explained by the fact that though back in 1996, under Jyoti Basu, Bengal adopted the New Economic Policy in line with the reforms wagon let loose at the center by Dr. Manmohan Singh, nothing concerete happened on ground. Look at Haldia and the tussle with The Chatterjee Group for example. A haphazard and ad hoc kind of economic strategy was what one could see.The result was chaos and misguided action. The 'reformist' CM wanted trade unionism and business prosperity to coexist, and like all Marxist doctrines (though it was not one of them) it too turned out to be utopian.

The worry now is what next and how. If the writing on the wall is to be heeded those marching towards power have a dismal track record as far as administrative acumen and consistency of ideas and ideals is concerned. We all know how Ms Banerjee has been storming in and out of alliances, how she has been throwing papers on the Chair at the Lok Sabha, how she has been running her ministerial duties and most importantly how very unclear is her vision for Bengal. She has proved to be a credible opposition to the ruling left, atleast ballots say that. Now she has to prove she can do to Bengal what Nitish Kumar has been doing to Bihar.

As I said earlier, its time economics took precedence over politics in Bengal. And, here economics does not mean project clearance and land allocation to the chosen few. If CPIM had red mark all over in their economic and financial score card, Trinamool too does not have any better credentials. Its agitation threw off TATAs from Singur and with that industry's confidence. The way Didi has been running the Indian Railways- giving sops after sops, adding new trains without sprucing infrastructure, adding to losses by refusing to increase fares year after year- it all raises one single question - will she be able to take strong decisions to bring Bengal back on track or will she busy herself in settling political scores?

The state of Bengal will prosper if investor confidence is restored and its best brains make it their home once again. For this to happen there needs to be huge corrective measures in governance, in administration, in financial decisioning and economic outlook. With Maoists digging their heels and demanding their pound of flesh for supporting Trinamool in shaking up the Red regime, how far would the reforms be taken becomes a question mark.

From cities to country side business has to increase penetration. The perennial conflict between the farm and industry needs an amicable solution with long term interest of the state in mind. Rhetoric has rang loud for long - its time some sane voice is heard. But whose? With conflicting interests and mutually exclusive goals high on agenda, coming to a shared vision for the state seems difficult. Its time for all to come together - politicians, industrialists, intelligensia, administrators and common people- and build a common minimum program, a shared vision of a prosperous Bengal. Let the differences rest for a while, there will time to settle scores or prove a point later, now is the time to change - change not only in the hue of the Writers Building, but change of mentality and mindset. For once lets come together for Bengal, the soil that made us all we are today.

Marketing the Need – way to consumer’s pocket and heart!

Selling is out. A sales pitch is more likely to drive the consumer away. Creating the need is what drive sales and all marketing activities are today focused on making the consumer feel a pang if not having the product or service on offer. You maybe completely satisfied with your old refrigerator, a faithful companion for a decade or more but suddenly you realize that your fruits and vegetables are loosing their nutrition, that the food stored in overstuffed compartments is not fresh enough and that you must spend afresh for the sake of fresh and crunchy veggies that you want your family to savour. Not that your family complained of any loss hygiene or nutrition in the way of storage of foods – for now you know a better (?) option is available, one you cannot do without.

As the old saying goes need is the mother of all inventions – today need is the prime force in getting a consumer hooked. A service that hitherto was never thought required suddenly becomes essential – your organizational newsletter for example. Someone points out what it lacks and how you fail to engage your employees and stakeholders with the religiously sent out drab looking formal email every fortnight, reveals your pain points and the success factors of your competition in the same space and your need for a better communication strategy is exposed. And, once the need is established sooner or later the service will be consumed.

Today a push marketing – spaming mailbox with unsolicited mails or sending unrequited sms – is more likely to be discarded for most products and services without even a glance. How many mails and messages you delete without even reading the content? Marketing an event or a service or even an academic program rides on generating need and create aspiration. For an event, the participant must aspire to be seen there. Building this aspiration depends on a lot of concerted effort other than advertising. Creating a talking point and then projecting the program / product / service as a niche one that takes you to a level above where you stand today is what every marketer sweats at.

For a brand in the making selling the need for its offerings to compete with the established brand is a more strategic approach. While the market leader will play on the loyalty and long established repute, the new entrant can always entice the end consumer with its different approach – old wine in same bottle may not sell, but the same wine in a tetra pack might – don’t you need a handy tetra pack over the old fashioned bottle! Also, for the uninitiated consumer the new brand can offer a bridge to reach the position he always aspired. Say for instance an established automobile brand can be given a run for its money once a new entrant offers more features, affordability and easy accessible finance options – giving those who always dreamt of owning a four wheeler, needed it over their old bikes, an opportunity to move a step ahead. Create the need and then be the one, and if possible the only one to be able to fulfil it.

The marketing effort today is not only aimed at selling the product or service but to establish the organization as an innovator, a thought leader. Social media as such plays an important role in this game, opening up whole new avenues, bringing the marketer and the target audience on the same platform, affording greater connect facilitating wider interaction. The marketplace today is a different turf, rules of the game are changing and so are the referees! What worked yesterday will not yield today and tomorrow is another story altogether. Its challenging, its exciting, it’s a whole new experience everyday.