A rare visionary

In an IFA Shield football match played at the Mohun Bagan Ground between two of Calcutta's Giants, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, a gentleman pointed out that the goalpost facing the Eden Gardens lacked proper angular direction as the sunlight might blind the goal-keeper. On enquiry, the department of statistics found out that in most of the matches the side facing Eden Gardens conceded goals. This gentleman happened to be none other than the former chief minister of West Bengal and the legendary physician, Bidhan Chandra Roy, whose birthday (July 1) is officially celebrated as 'Doctor's Day'. Having gained mythical fame as a medical practitioner, BC Roy still had a latent hunt for engineering. It is also heard that he had even thought of engineering as a course of study. However, destiny had some other plans for him. Still, the engineering acumen never faded from his mind. Eventually, when he emerged as the architect of the state ridden with the issue of partition and its social, political and economic consequences, he utilised the engineering faculty of his mind in tackling major concerns like decentralisation and city planning, rehabilitation of displaced individuals, creating employment and ensuring industrial growth of the state.

The partition of India had its most debilitating impact on West Bengal, making its economy reel under tremendous pressure. The economic resources became truncated. Added to this was the incessant exodus of landless, listless people trudging wearily in search of refuge. BC Roy had to respond quickly as the problems were colossal. His holistic approach to the situation was based on economics with engineering and manufacturing stint. In order to boost the transport industry, he introduced an increasing number of taxis on the road and Calcutta saw something called 'baby taxi'. This served a double purpose: it encouraged the production sector of automobiles and also opened up avenues for employment. The manufacture of cars like 'Ambassador' by 'Hindustan Motors' amplified professional scope for both technologically skilled and less-skilled workers. To carry forward the venture of employment generation, the Calcutta State Transport Corporation was opened where a lot of job aspirants were absorbed. Roy viewed things to engineer innovation. Getting to know about a kind of fish in Italy that is rich in protein with almost no fat, he came back to Calcutta and got in touch with Shakti Sarkar, the then president of 24 Parganas Fish Producing Association, and requested to grow this breed along with Indian carps in east Calcutta wetlands. Eventually, this breed of fish has become popular in the name of 'Tilapia'. He also shared the idea that medical colleges and hospitals having water bodies within their compounds should facilitate the breeding of fish which would take care of the nutritional demands of the patients. The doctor and the agro-engineer seem to find a fitting amalgam here. Strange, as it may seem to many, BC Roy had even aired his views about circular railways and underground railways. He was concerned about the growing problem of transport and believed that the movement of trains within the city could be a solution. Many, including his political antagonists, derided such ideas as a mere figment of imagination, though time has proved otherwise. It is also known that Roy was interested in introducing tram services to the developing areas of Salt Lake and his idea was to frame the tramlines along the canal region. Roy saw things lying beneath the surface; nothing could escape his mind's eye. The development of Haldia Port was not beyond his conception. As the Chief Minister, he did not miss the link between demography and the fruits of development. He used to hold Cabinet meetings in Darjeeling not just because, as his critics believed, to enjoy the clime of the hills but to actually make the locals of the hills feel integrated into the state.

Driven by an ardent necessity to accommodate the pouring population from East Pakistan, He started considering the plan of expanding the stretch of Calcutta. At that time, the city was cordoned by the Ganges in the west and the brackish lakes in the east. The city could grow only in the direction of north and south. It was a revolutionary idea to carve out Salt Lake as a residential place. His engineering mind glowed at its best as he sent representatives to European countries like the Netherlands where reclamation work of places similar to Salt Lake had taken place. After gaining the expertise, BC Roy was convinced about setting up Salt Lake in a new form. On February 15, 1955, a government gazette notification was published regarding the notification of the acquisition of around 175 acres for reclamation of the north of the Salt Lake area. It needs mention here that Hem Chandra Naskar did give the area of Salt Lake to Roy only for one rupee. Today, Salt Lake stands as a place with sound urban infrastructure. We also need to remember that it is the development of the Salt Lake area which has broadly facilitated the further growth of planned townships like the Kolkata New Town area. Roy illuminated the concept of the expansion of Calcutta eastward. His plan of decentralisation resulted in places like Kalyani and Durgapur, the latter became a steel city under his regime only. It was again BC Roy who formed a body called 'Calcutta Metropolitan Planning Authority' which was a kind of forerunner to 'Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority'. His plan of arranging the transit of displaced persons from East Pakistan to Andaman was a novel idea that would have surely met better success had his opposition lent a stronger hand of coordination.

Roy was pretty conscious of the need for industrialisation. But his vision of industrialisation differed from the 'Mahalanobis Model. The edition of 'The Economic Weekly', dated July 30 1955, states how BC Roy opined his differences with the Mahalanobis model, particularly as he believed that the said model did not clearly indicate the source from which money would flow. He once regretted that he did not understand agriculture, but he was keen on projects like Damodar Valley. A man of multi-disciplinary interest and knowledge; a rare visionary and a thoroughly reasonable mind with calculative prowess, BC Roy was as clinical in treating his patients as much he was in the matter of his state's development. No wonder Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru once said "Bidhan Roy was a tall man, much taller than me."

The writer is an educator from Kolkata. Views expressed are personal

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