Times of India Sociologist Ashis Nandys controversial words at the Jaipur lit fest are being debated heatedly but there is one thing that is difficult to argue with: there is a lack of representation from the backward classes and tribals in the upper echelons of power in West Bengal. Over the last 100 years, he said, nobody from the other backward classes (OBCs), the backward classes, the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes have (sic) come anywhere near power in West Bengal. All the chief ministers of West Bengal and almost all their cabinet colleagues hailed from the upper castes. The representation of backward classes, castes and tribals in all the successive council of ministers - the Congress regimes and three short-lived coalitions from 1947 to 1977, the Left Front till 2011 and the Trinamool Congress now - has been merely token. In none of the governments was anyone from the backward sections or a tribal given a significant portfolio. And this in a state that not only cradled social reforms, but also one where people belonging to the scheduled castes, OBCs and scheduled tribes form nearly 68 per cent of the states population. A look at the council of ministers from the time of the states first chief minister, Dr Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, to Mamata Banerjee, proves Nandy right. Whats more, though Brahmins form just two per cent of the states population, they have held most of the important portfolios in successive regimes. Of the 44 ministers in Bengal now, as many as 14, including the chief minister, are Brahmins. Only two ministers are tribals and seven are from the scheduled castes and OBCs, most of them junior ministers. Tellingly, the most prominent among them - former CBI joint director Upen Biswas - is in charge of the backward classes welfare department. Others are in charge of departments like youth services and waterways. Forest is the only one of any significance held by an OBC minister. Muslims, who form more than 25 per cent of the states population, have only five representatives in the 44-member council of ministers. This has been the pattern in all successive ministries, including those during the Lefts 34-year rule in Bengal. Brahmins and the upper castes have always held the most important and powerful portfolios in this state, irrespective of the party or coalition in power. It is indeed a paradox, but a very shameful one, that a state which has produced such great social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar continues to keep the SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities out of power, says sociologist Madhusudhan Ghosh. In fact, he points out, Brahmins and upper castes outnumber SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities in the middle and upper bureaucracy, police force, various professions and even the academia in Bengal. And this was the case during the British rule as well: most of the members of the Bengal provincial assembly, right from 1892 when elections to the body first took place, were Brahmins and upper castes. They upper caste made for nearly 75 per cent of the council of ministers under chief ministers Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, Bidhan Chandra Roy, Prafulla Chadra Sen, Ajoy Mukherjee and Siddhartha Shankar Ray till 1977 when the Left Front took over the reins of power. The first ministry under Jyoti Basu was slightly more egalitarian - the representation of the upper castes fell to about 60 per cent, but increased to 65 per cent and then 70 per cent during his second and third tenures respectively. His successor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee kept this caste composition intact while forming his two ministries in 2001 and 2006. Mamata Banerjee too has lived up to the tradition. Expectedly, the marginalised sections have started protesting. As senior IPS officer Nazrul Islam says, it is time for Bengals SCs, STs, OBCs and Muslims to get together and launch a political battle. We will then be the king-makers and the chief minister of the state will be a Muslim, SC or OBC, he says.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 12:49:43 +0000
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