This has led to the rise of political brokers in the countryside and forced people to stay on the land. Lower labor mobility has permitted the state government to ignore the virtual collapse of the industrial sector. Bureaucrats are more concerned about preserving the privileges of the existing work force than about increasing employment opportunities. Clearly, land reform in West Bengal has, perhaps unintentionally, helped slow the pace of urbanization, industrialization, and, consequently economic growth. Seen in this light, it should not surprise anyone that West Bengal, which peaked in those respects in 1947, has been sliding over the past decades.
Land reform is necessary.
But this cannot be isolated from general economic policy. Today, the state is the largest landlord and is increasingly involved in disputes with indigenous people, whose title to their traditional land is not recognized. Rural communities are being torn apart by contentious litigation and frequent violence. Maintenance of land records by state governments is pathetic and open to rampant manipulation and corruption. Also, land reform cannot be a one-way street to land distribution.