She achieved this the hard way, following a punishing work schedule herself and involving Government employees, too — not an easy job in Bengal! In the process she earned some unpopularity among her staff, especially among the laggards. But her approach did ensure her success among millions of commoners who could see conditions improve. As her second term in power begins, senior government officials and employees remain apprehensive that she will be just as exacting as a taskmaster as before.

Confirming their fears, Ms Banerjee has already addressed her first administrative meeting at Jhargram, West Midnapore. The area is part of the politically sensitive Jangal Mahal, where Maoists ran rampant during the Left front rule, driving the state administration and the police to retreat to safer areas. During the TMC rule, they have been reduced to a politically spent force, their influence currently restricted to small pockets.

Most Bengalis still regard the late Bidhan Chandra Roy as the most effective and hard working leader. The late Jyoti Basu is also respected as a statesman who achieved national eminence, but not necessarily as a Chief Minister. Ironically, Mr. Siddhartha Sankar Ray, who certainly steered the state through a very difficult period and pioneered a partial economic recovery, does not receive due credit.

It remains to be said that for all their sincerity and political honesty, none could succeed in making the state administration either effective or efficient. Too late in the day, Ms Banerjee’s predecessor Mr, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya , tried to inculcate punctuality and answerability among his staff, but had to give up.

The reason: pressure from his own babu-dominated Left employees” unions, which made sure that except at the highest levels of officialdom, employees were free to come and go as they liked.

The Left Front’s culture of sponsoring several bandhs a year when all official work was disrupted, hardly inspired confidence among investors or tourists. Showing the worst kind of opportunism, no employee ever suffered a pay cut for not attending on such days, although the agitation might have been organised as a noble gesture — protesting against the Centre’s agreement with the US on nuclear issues, for instance.

No Chief Minister before Ms Banerjee fulfilled the promise of ‘not running the administration from the state Secretariat (writers’ buildings). It was Mr. Basu who made it into a political slogan on winning the crucial post-emergency polls in 1977-78. Mr Ray held a few cabinet meetings in some districts sporadically. He preferred to be thick at the centre of things in New Delhi.

Ms Banerjee held over 100 meetings in fair weather and foul, in all 20 districts between 2011 and 2015 — a record for West Bengal, perhaps in the country, too.

The pattern of most meetings was common. She made sure all officers and employees were present, from the District magistrate downwards. Local MLAs and MPs were also called. Those absent received a severe dressing down in public or transferred. No wonder there were hardly any abstentions.

“With an amazing memory of what had been said at earlier meetings by whom, she would ask for public explanations for delays if any, in official work. And she unceremoniously called each officer or MLA by their first name, and the lord help them if they fumbled while answering or made excuses for slackness,” recalls a senior official of South 24 Parganas. ’It was no pleasure for senior IAS or IPS officers to be rebuked in public, in harsh language, before the BDOs, not excluding the class IV orderlies’. Some BDOs admit that they worked even on Sundays at times, prior to a Chief Ministerial visit.

Today there are over 800,000 Government employees, teachers in government –run schools and civic workers on official pay roll. Most of them are entitled to their dearness allowance (DA) payments. Usually their DA amounts are slightly less than their Central Government counterparts. At the moment, West Bengal Government employees are getting 50% less DA than Central Government staff. Apart from very mild criticism, there has not occurred a murmur of protest! The once almighty Co-ordination Committee of employees backed by the CPI(M) , supported by lakhs of employees, hardly exists. Those who tried to protest were transferred summarily to distant locations. And that was that”, says a Director of the Information department.

There is understandably much grumbling and suppressed resentment among some employees over such matters. But there is no denying the positive changes occurring within the administration. Most employees arrive on time these days and work gets done without much delay. Mr. Arpan Mukherjee, journalist now settled in New Zealand, says, ’There is no doubt that greater Kolkata, parts of Howrah, the airport and the riverfront, are much better operated and cleaner than before.’ Everybody also agrees that the work done in the rural areas — paving kutcha roads, widening narrow lanes, setting up latrines, supplying power to nearly 98% of the villages, digging and maintaining ponds and arranging for piped water supply — cannot be denied either.

Add to this is the supply of rice and wheat at Rs 2 and Rs 3.5o a kilo, lakhs of cycles and free bags for girls and women — and one begins to understand why the Maoists are no longer a political force as before. And up in the north Bengal,, some mouzas (unit of area)) in Jalpaiguri given over to the Gorkha Territorial Authority (GTA,) now want to return to State Government control.

The chief Minister does not believe in coddling the inefficient among government employees or officers. Also, she rewards those who work hard. Examples are numerous, although her opponents allege that she uses some ‘favourite’ officers to implement the TMC’s programmes rather than official work. There is an element of truth in such allegations.

As the TMC begins its second tenure, Ms Banerjee has announced her intention to resume her district visits. Even new Ministers, some of whom are first time MLAs have learnt their lessons. As one official puts it, ’Our new Minister has already met us and asked us to prepare a list of projects that have been completed, those under implementation or yet to begin., together with all the details . He wants to be ready before he faces question time from the Chief Minister, along with officials.’

In the process, it has to be admitted that the state administration has become more active and responsive to peoples’ needs, development is seen to be happening and officials and employees are becoming more efficient and have more self respect.

It needs stressing, Left rulers had not paid much attention to the need for speedy development, or bringing about much needed efficiency among government staff after 1987 or so. Ms Banerjee has certainly does this by setting a personal example and by encouraging efficient Ministers Like Mr Subrata Mukherjee, Mr Amit Mitra and Mr Rajiv Banerjee, among others in their efforts. (IPA Service)