Economic downturn, clandestine state assistance encourage scamsters: Experts

Economic and political observers feel that there are two reasons behind such mushrooming menaces. First is the economic downturn of the state over years because of the general reluctance of national and multinational companies and organisations to invest in the manufacturing and services sector in the state and the gap created by this void aided in mushrooming of bogus entities and making people gullible.

Kolkata: From multi-level marketing (MLM) companies to chit fund firms like I-Core, Saradha, Rose Valley and others, West Bengal, or to be precise, Kolkata has always hit the headlines for being the home of bogus and fake entities. The latest has been the racket run by fake-IAS officer Debanjan Deb in the Kasba fake vaccination case.

Economic and political observers feel that there are two reasons behind such mushrooming menaces. First is the economic downturn of the state over years because of the general reluctance of national and multinational companies and organisations to invest in the manufacturing and services sector in the state and the gap created by this void aided in mushrooming of bogus entities and making people gullible.

The second reason is the indirect and clandestine patronage that these scamsters enjoy from the state or to be more precise a section of the state's ruling class. According to veteran journalist and economic and political observer, Santanu Sanyal, mushrooming of bogus and fake entities had been happening in West Bengal for a long time since the previous Left Front regime.

"Lack of employment opportunities is surely a reason. Traditionally, the apathy on part of big industrialists towards investing in the state has left a large gap in investment be it manufacturing or be it in the services sector. And this lack of investment resulted in a prolonged economic downturn in the state. The fraudsters and these bogus entities took advantage of this investment gap and economic downturn. The second reason is the inherent flaw in the political and administrative system where the fraudsters started enjoying the clandestine patronage of a section of the ruling class. So these fake entities continue to operate uncontrolled for quite some time. When there is a flaw in the system itself who will control this menace?" Sanyal told ETV Bharat.

Without state assistance, there cannot be fraud in the name of the state. That is what the economist Santanu Basu feels. "One individual is using counterfeit Kolkata Municipal Corporation documents and his programmes are being attended by the ministers and ruling party leaders. Even that individual is using floating government tender using the KMC logo. How is this possible without clandestine state backing? Surely there are other brains behind this scam. I personally feel that this scam is not just limited to Kolkata. Rather its tentacles are scattered elsewhere in the state, where the media is yet to reach out to," Basu said.

Renowned political observer and the former registrar of Calcutta University, Rajagopal Dhar Chowdhury feels although right now the attempt is only to highlight the misdeeds of Debanjan Deb, surely other people are behind it. "The allegations of the opposition parties on these lines cannot be ignored. It is possible that influential people from administration and politics are involved in this scam. An impartial and wide-range probe can reveal the truth," he said.

Finally Congress leaders and renowned lawyer, Arunava Ghosh feels that the state government and the ruling party cannot just shrug off their responsibilities. "Had such a scam taken place at Calcutta High Court, then the Chief Justice would have to take the responsibility. Similarly, the Trinamool Congress-led state government should take up responsibility for this scam. If the state government is really serious about checking such menaces then it should identify the main brains and associates and penalise them," Ghosh said.

The entire state is boiling over the fake vaccination racket. Political mudslinging is in full swing. In the midst of this, some questions are automatically cropping up. How long West Bengal will continue to be a breeding ground for fraudsters like Sudipto Sen, Goutam Kundu, and Debanjan Deb? How long these fraudsters continue to enjoy the patronage of a section of the politicians? And finally, when will the state get over this investment famine and witness a northward movement of the economic graph.