You can’t do welfare without first creating wealth. Money has to be generated – through factories, jobs, and industry – before it can be distributed. Incentives to industry are investments that expand the tax base and fund welfare. It can be argued that this happened to an extent under UPA, leading to very high inflation and relative underperformance of Indian economy. West Bengal is now walking the same path. It promised incentives, companies invested, and now the state says funds will only go to welfare. This breaks trust, scares away new investors, and in the end, welfare also becomes unsustainable. With this step, is West Bengal distributing Wealth, or is it distributing Poverty? Let us know in the comments.
